If you want to grow your own tasty fruit, Cathy Isom has picked the one for you. In today’s program she has tips on how to grow your own blackberries. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
Blackberries are insanely tasty, are pretty trouble-free, and are totally worth your time. They are a native plant in the United States, which is one reason why they are so hardy. During the summer, the bushes produce delectable fruit for about three or four weeks.
The first thing to know about growing blackberries is that they come in four types: erect, thorny, thornless, and trailing. Blackberries are perennials, but on most plants the canes are biennials. This means that the canes have leaves the first year, and the following year they bear fruit. Then, those two-year canes die back and new canes form.
The best companion plants that play particularly well with blackberries include: mint, chive, blueberry, beans, and grape. Don’t plant your blackberries where plants in the nightshade family have grown, as they share similar pests. Also, avoid growing near raspberries.
Harvest berries when they are plump, firm and fully black. They should easily pull from the plant. Harvest berries every other day while they are ripening.
Blackberries need to be refrigerated or placed in a cool location as soon as they are picked. They don’t have a long shelf life. They’ll only last 5-7 days in the fridge.
I’m Cathy Isom…