2020 fruit gardens

[Banjo picker]

There used to be wild plums galore here when I was a kid.  Just about every community had a plum thicket.  They were Chickasaw plums.  Now there are almost none.  I know of three thickets in the entire county, and that’s from mowing the ROW when I worked for MDOT. They don’t produce very well either.  Banjo

[thecfarm]

The fruit of your labor.  ;D
And a nice view!!

[mike_belben]

Ive fertilized and watered my wild blackberries this year and theyre looking robust.. Just had the first handful of early ripeners today.   

Any tips on transplanting and taming them in a gardenish environment?  

I found wild grape in the woods today that is juuust starting to set tiny fruit.  Any chance i can start some cuttings from it?

[Banjo picker]

I have tried several times to get new muscadine plants and haven't done any good yet.  I have a brick setting on one of the shoots that came off down low on one vine.  I am gonna leave it till fall and see if it has rooted.  I tried a couple of air rootings in a plastic bottle ... that didn't work for me. 

On the berries.  You May be a little late for getting young sprouts.  The ones that I will get fruit off next year are already 7 feet tall.  I dug up about 5 earlier an gave to a buddy that wanted a start of them.  I am going to have to thin some of the new growth around the mother plant because some have too many.  I am gonna try and get a little root to come up with them and see if I can start a plant from that.  It's a work in progress.  I'm learning as I go.  When I ordered them they were just tiny bear root plants....I planted them in the fall,... late got almost nothing the next year just one or two per plant.  Only get fruit from last years wood.  Banjo

[SwampDonkey]

I found wild grape in the woods today that is juuust starting to set tiny fruit.  Any chance i can start some cuttings from it?

I moved my cultivated grapes, but made sure there was  a bit of a root on the cuttings. They were ones crawling across the ground. They have grown like weeds off them transplants. I buried mine in soil and manure, and early spring before leaves come on the trees.

I keep my blackberries caged, but I'm only doing small plots. It keeps them upright from falling over, as I mow lawn around them. Again I would move last years canes in early spring before leaf out. That is how I started mine from someone else's garden. It works on the raspberries also, they have to have lots of moisture to keep alive and grow roots out when you move them like that. They will even produce fruit the same year off them year old transplants.

[SwampDonkey]

July 12 update:

Grapes



Blackberry canes are jumping right up there. Lots of green fruit.



Raspberries. I guess I'd better get to the garden and pick some.

[SwampDonkey]

July 18

I tied the grapes and did some more pruning of some side shoots and tipped them so they begin to go laterally. Here are the grapes sizing up, more to grow yet. ;D



Pruned. Hard to believe there was quite an armload of brush vines from the clippings.

[SwampDonkey]

Black elder fruit setting.

[Walnut Beast]

Are you going to make some wine 🍷 or jelly 

[SwampDonkey]

Juice for now.

[trapper]

my gooseberry has ripe fruit on it.  First year to bear. 

[SwampDonkey]

my gooseberry has ripe fruit on it.  First year to bear.

Makes good jam. Father loved gooseberry jam.

[mike_belben]

Hey i think that might be one of the things ive been trying to ID.. I thought it was a sumac.  Did the elder start off white flowers/pods then turn to green and continually grow larger .. Like a globe sorta?  I will upload a pic soon

[mike_belben]

[SwampDonkey]

Yep, that is elder there. I don't know what species you have. Some are not edible. Mine is. We have two kinds of red ones in the wild that we can't eat. One that grows around here in the wild will be in bloom before the snow is gone.

This edible one flowers in late June and into July. Berries are black when ripe.

[thecfarm]

I call them elder berries. Most times they grow where it is wet.
Sanbucus canadensis

[SwampDonkey]

Up here they grow on well drained ground, especially on berms of roads cut through hardwood ground. I cut a lot of them down growing along the woods roads and in plantations. They never grow up straight, they come up then droop back down toward the ground. A pain to cut because they don't fall over. :D

[SwampDonkey]

July 30

First little dish of blackberries, 3/4 of a quart box. ;)

[SunnyHillFarm]

The edible ones make an awesome pie if the birds don't get them first. I have to cover mine if I want any ripe fruit

[Banjo picker]

My blackberries are done for this year.  There is a very few late bloomers that are still red, but mostly gone.  When I get time, I'll get the pruners out and cut them down and haul them off.  New canes for next year are 6 to 7 feet tall after having the tops cut back once already.  Tim

[SwampDonkey]

Aug 1

Grapes are showing color.

[mike_belben]

My blackberries have finished off as well.  It was a record year for them.  

I stomped about 30 of those caterpillars groping on blueberry foliage in the woods yesterday.  They were still clustered and musta been fresh hatched.  You guys in the south may wanna keep a close watch this week.

[Chuck White]

With the dry spell we're just now getting through, most of the Blackberries have dried up!

[SwampDonkey]

I've picked a couple quart boxes of blackberries since the first one. They are hanging like grapes this year with all the watering I've been doing. Only way we would have any. Lots of new canes for next year. Will probably cut the old raspberry canes down next weekend, they have finished off. They was nice and blump to with the watering. Not a lot of old canes from last year, since it was terrible dry last year to, and year before. But next year I'm going to be overrun with raspberries. Keep on watering. Glad I got that side by side and a creek 5 minutes away with a big water hole beside the road. Full of little brook trout in there to, but I don't bother them none.

[mike_belben]

I finally put a ibc tote with a hose in a little trail that the tractor tugs around.  Didnt end up needing to use it too often.  There was only about 2 weeks that were really dry.