Planting our Blackberry Bushes

Well, I finally planted our three blackberry bushes yesterday. My daughters and I purchased them from a local nursery the weekend before Easter. That was almost three weeks ago! The weather has just been so cold and yucky that I delayed in planting them. They stayed nice and warm in our garage. We have high windows that let in sunlight and they did just fine. We purchased the black satin thornless variety at the suggestion of the gentleman who helped us at the nursery. I remember picking blackberries as a child and the thorns were never pleasant. Oh, but the blackberries were good! My neighbor had a whole maze of blackberry bushes in her backyard. She would take me out and let me pick to my heart's content. I can't wait for my girls to be able to do the same. We'll have to try out some recipes for jams and jellies too. I better not leave out blackberry pie! These three bushes will make for some good memories.....................if they provide us with ample blackberries and I bet they will. We planted our three blackberry bushes along our back fence where they will get plenty of sunshine. This variety is supposed to grow approximately eight to ten feet wide. Once the stems arch over to the point of touching the ground, additional roots or offspring are generated. Hopefully, we'll have plenty of blackberries to pick next year. Since the blackberries are produced on the previous year's growth, we won't have any to pick this first year. Blackberries have crowns that produce biennial shoots. During the first year of growth the shoots are called primocanes. These primocanes develop flower buds. In the second year the shoots are called floricanes. These floricanes produce flowers that mature into fruit. After fruiting, the floricanes die and should then be removed. Our first harvest will probably start next July or August and extend through September. Frequent picking is best to encourage more fruit production and reduce the risk of rotting which only encourages disease. You should pick every 3 to 6 days using a breaking motion rather than pulling. Also, pick into a shallow container to prevent the berries from crushing. Avoid picking when the berries are wet and refrigerate as soon as possible. I can hardly wait until next year!