Berry Patch

So the state of my herb garden has been shameful!

 This is what several years of neglect looks like. There are still some things thriving in there though. That's why it's generally a good idea to plant perennial herbs in their own area. Despite all the weeds there are herbs still thriving in there. There is chocolate mint, apple mint, chives, horseradish, oregano, terrigon and in front you can see the poor rhubarb valiantly attempting to grow in this mess. There is also some very neglected garlic hidden in there. The area between the rhubarb and the other herbs is only weeds though so I decided it would be a great spot for some berry bushes. And it just so happened I found an online end of season clearance on raspberry canes and some cherry bushes. Now I had never heard of cherry bushes before but I really like the idea so I ordered 3, along with 6 raspberry canes. I believe the cherry bushes are ordered are hardy crimson passion (but I could be wrong on this, they only had 3 varieties). I do remember that it mentioned they would be good for pies!. The raspberries were a yellow variety called Anne Raspberry that ripens around August. They yellow colour supposedly tricks the birds into thinking they are not yet ripe, so we will see how that pans out. The other variety was dark red one called Boyne Raspberry that is described as ultra hardy and very reliable, just what I look for in a plant. I had a slight problem though. I excitedly ordered these half price gems and realized I had some work to do before I could plant them. They arrived very quickly as well, so I had to really get myself in gear to prepare a plot for them.
After a great deal of digging I managed to get them in the ground.
My poor rhubarb was so entwined with grass it was decimated, but there are some leaves coming back so I think it will recover from my abuse. The cherry bushes apparently get quite large so they are planted on the edge. I had my very accommodating husband help me get the t-posts in for the raspberry trellis, he pushed them in using the bottom of the loader tractor bucket, saving me a great deal of effort trying to drive the posts in. I ran wire around it to hold up the raspberries one they get growing. This is supposed to make it more manageable to harvest and to prune. I also decided to mulch with some old straw we had up in the barn to keep the weeds down while the plants are small and to keep the moisture in during the hot summer months.


The rest of the herb garden still needs some attention but one project at a time!









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