Berry Patch

I made my own little berry patch today!

Last year, my Mom bought me several raspberry sticks for my birthday. That's exactly what they looked like... remember? Well, this year they are back and green and even a few little extra sprouts came up. They are in their own little garden in the corner of the yard that used to have some sort of big bush or small tree in it due to my forensic root studies. :D I've been trying to decide who was worthy to share a spot with my raspberries... I decided today!

When we bought this house, we found random strawberry plants in a couple of different places. There is a railroad tie-bordered garden along the short fence in the back yard that has heirloom lilacs in it. Last year they were just green leaves and this year they have little purple buds! Underneath the lilacs, there was a sprawling strawberry patch that had "run" amok. Above all this is the oak tree, showering leaves over all. I don't know if you've ever tried to rake leaves out of strawberries, but it's not very easy. They are low to the ground and have big leaves and would rather "hatch" the oak leaves rather than let them be combed out. The other unexpected place we found strawberries was a little strip along the edge of the grass right next to the deck. It's hard to mow around them and these strawberries don't grow very well in the near-constant shade and they weren't very happy. Not to mention the wasps that built a nest in the deck right above them and dined on them until their nest was pretty much pink!

Anyway, today I armed myself with various shovels, a kneeling pad, gardening gloves and a wheelbarrow and I trekked all of those strawberries to the other side of the yard and put them at the raspberries' feet. :) Now they will be easier to put a net over to keep the birdies from eating them and they will be much happier in the more temperate climate on that end of the yard. It is supposed to rain this weekend, which is perfect for new little transplants. In fact, it was sunny all day today (Yippee!) but right as I finished patting them all into the ground and watering them in, the clouds shaded the sun so they could rest and relax in their new bed! ;)

I am beyond excited!! I can hardly wait for all that photosynthesis to take place and to get to eat strawberries and maybe even raspberries!!

I've even gotten so brave that I want to try growing choke cherries, but I haven't decided if they'll go there by the berries or somewhere else. My Grandma Lee had raspberries and made THE BEST jam in the world! She would freeze the berries and then can jam in the winter when a hot kitchen is more desirable. :D I remember while I was at Ricks, she gave me a freezer container of raspberries and I made it last all year! I would just go dig out a scoop and savor it every once in a while. :D The choke cherries are for her, too! She made this amazing choke cherry syrup. Oh man, was it good! And you know something funny? My Dad just told me that the syrup was an accident! It was meant to be jam, but after that, they'd always ask her to make it into syrup. :D Lucky me, because I love it as syrup!! :D We had strawberries in Rose Park and truth be told, that was the first gardening experience I ever had. Mom and Dad would make little sections of garden for each one of us and we could plant whatever we wanted. :D I want to do that for my kids someday. In case you haven't already guessed, I am a very sentimental gardener, just like my Mom! ;)

Just for the record, the picture doesn't do them justice and I promise to take more when they've been there for a little while. They're just tired from their long journey in the wheelbarrow! ;)

This is a silly picture of Emily who didn't help at all, but who is still cute! :D You'll notice her backpack is still on... we led her out with her eyes closed to see what we had done while she was at school. Gracie helped quite a bit and Landon we mostly chased out of the berry patch! :D