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Blackberries&

Raspberries

GrowingBlackberries and raspberries are native to North America and this makes them easy to grow in your yard or garden. Follow these simple rules are you will find your bushes flourishing:

™Location: Brambles grow best in full sunlight, but will still grown in 50% shade. This location should not be near anywhere you grow potatoes, tomatoes or eggplants. These plants are host to verticillium wilt that may live for many years in your soil ansd affect brambles.

™Planting: Once you have chosen a location, dig a hole twice as wide and the same depth as your toot all. Carefully loosen the roots and place in the hole. Combine the existing soil with compost and topsoil and fill the hole so that settled soil will leave the plant at the same level at which it was in the pot.

™Watering: The plants need to be watered immediately after planting and throughout periods of dry weather. You may consider laying a soaker hose or dripline along the plants before you begin to mulch.

™Fertilizing: It is important to not overfeed these plants. If the plants are overfed, it will lead to lots of foliage but less fruit. Use a neutral formula such as 10-10-10.

™Pruning: Pruning is essential to productivity. These plants require no initial pruning and will fruit during the first season from existing canes produced during the previous growing season. After fruiting is completed, prune the old cane off as low as possible and discard. These canes must be burned or disposed of since they may become disease hosts. By removing old canes your plant will constantly be stimulated to produce newer, more productive wood that will produce your fruit.

™Mulch: Heavy use of mulch will decrease weed competition, aid in moisture retention and organic matter to your site.

611 Siegfriedale RoadKutztown, PA 19530

These berries are abundant in antioxidants that may provide significant health benefits. Among these antioxidants are the phytochemicals anthocyanin and ellagic acid, and vitamins C and E. You don’t need to worry about losing these vitamins while cooking, jams and desserts retain the health benefits of the berries as well!

Raspberries are an especially excellent source of two critical antioxidant nutrients: magnesium (62% Daily Value) and vitamin C (51. 3% D V), as well as dietary fiber (33. 4% D V).

RaspberriesIn limited space, it is possible to have only one plant. Most of these plants grow upright and can be grown without trellising at 3 to 5 foot centers. Hardy in zones 4-7.

Red Raspberries:

Caroline: is an everbearing variety producing large berries with a super-strong raspberry flavor beginning two weeks earlier than Heritage.Killarney: is an early-season variety with beautiful foliage and a distinctive leaf shape—the best bramble from a landscape point-of-view. Medium to large fruit is a light honey-red with an excellent flavor.Latham: produces large fruit in late spring. The fruit ripens over an extended period and its large berries hold a rich color and flavor when preserved.Heritage: is everbearing (small spring crop, larger fall crop). The fruit is of high quality, firm and of excellent flavor.

Colorful Raspberries:Jewel: is a unique mid-season, black raspberry. It produces an excellent yield of large glossy, flavorful berries. A thorned variety.Kiwigold and Anne: are everbearing like Heritage but produce golden yellow berries.Royalty is a purple variety producing large quantities of big, sweet, dark red to purple fruit late in the season

BlackberriesEach spring, canes should be mowed or cut to 6 inches and then be topped during the season. Several inches of mulch will discourage suckering.

Apache: this plant boasts large, tasty fruit with good eating and keeping characteristics. It is an upright plant that grows 4-5 ft in height. It is also a good pollinator for other varieties. Arapaho: requires no pollinator , being self-fertile. It has large, glossy, conical-shaped fruit that are quite firm. This early-season variety ripens about eleven days earlier than Navaho.

Chester: is very cold-hardy, but also grows well in the south. This self-fertile, late-season variety produces large, high-quality berries that are firm and keep well.Kiowa: is an early to mid-season, upright, thorny variety that bears incredibly large fruit. It provides delicious berries over a long period of harvest.Navaho: is an upright variety with showy, white, star-shaped, fragrant flowers on 6-8 canes. Large, glossy berries, borne over a six-week period in mid-season, are excellent for freezing and preserving. Self-fertile.Triple Crown: is an early-season variety with outstanding fruit production. This plant is extremely popular with home growers. The fruit is large and glossy with an excellent flavor. This self-fertile plant is a trailing variety, so it should be trellised.

For Your Health

Oh the Varieties!

Information from http://www.virginiaberryfarm.com

Growing blueberries may sound like a breeze, but you need to make sure to follow some simple practices that will result in having years of fresh blueberries:

Choosing location: Blueberries flourish in full sunlight, but they can also adapt and grown in 50% shade.

When Planting: Once you’ve found the perfect location, the next step is to dig. The hole needs to be twice as wide and the same depth as your root ball. Then, gently loosen the roots and place in the hole. Combine the existing soil with compost and fill the hole so that settled soil will let the plant rest at the same level at which it was in the pot. The soil needs to be well-drained and make sure to plant in raised areas if there is any chance of water standing around the roots.

Watering: The plants need to be watered right away after being planted and through dry periods. You may consider laying a soaker hose or dripline along the plants before mulching.

Fertilizing: The acidity of the soil needs to be between 4.8- 5.2 pH. You can use fertilizer intended for acid-loving plants, but a time-release complete product is best. You will place 5 to 15 ounces over the root zone at the beginning of the growth season. -Note: never add manure; it is alkaline.

Pruning: Berries are borne on buds of last year’s wood so light pruning is done to remove older and weaker wood. Blueberries should be pruned during the winter while the bushes are dormant. In winter, flower buds are easily visible on one-year-old wood.

Mulch: You should be mulching the plants heavily, to about 6 inches, to hold in a good moisture level and to reduce weed competition. Edible Landscaping replaces plants that are strictly ornamental with plants that produce food. This allows you to create a multi-functional landscape which provides returns on your investment of water, fertilizer, and time. With blueberries, you can add not only add a home fruit source, but beauty and function as well.

Blueberries as a hedge: To form solid hedges or a screen, place plants 2 1/2 to 3’ apart. If you want tall hedges, use the faster growing, up-right varieties an if you want smaller hedges, use more compact varieties.

There are many other benefits to growing blueberries. Some more examples are:

Familiar Foods: An edible landscape reduces your dependence on foreign food sources which have unknown production systems.

Savings!: Certain foods are more economical to grow at home than to purchase.

Convenience: Having fruits right outside the door will encourage you to add fresher, healthier foods to your diet—a terrific inducement for your children to enjoy them.

Sustainability: Consuming locally grown produce can be an important part of reducing energy inputs and protecting our environment.

BlueberriesGrowing Edible Landscaping


Patriot is an early season variety of blueberry that can endure temperatures as low as –40 degrees. It is excellent in the landscape with its display of showy white blooms in spring, and brilliant orange-red fall color. Matures 3-5’.

Duke is an understandably popular early season variety. It blooms late, but ripens early which protects the blossoms from spring frosts, guaranteeing that it will produce heavily. Matures 4-6’.

Bluejay is an early to mid-season blueberry that produces long loose clusters of light blue fruit that hang on the bush for long periods without affecting their quality. An excellent choice for freezing, pies, or canning. Matures 6-7’.

Bluehaven is an early to mid-season variety with light blue berries. A good partner for Patriot. Matures 4’.

Blue Crop is perhaps the most widely planted variety in the U.S. This mid-season variety is a true

garden performer, consistently producing quantities of large, firm, sweet fruit. Matures 4-6’.

Blueray is an old favorite, tolerating hot summers and very cold winters. Matures 4-6’.

Bluegold is a mid to late season variety. Its bright-white blooms, yellow fall foliage and golden yellow winter wood make this an ideal landscape candidate. The sweet, sky blue berries borne in large clusters make it a wonderful garden addition. Matures 4-5’.

Jersey is one of the oldest & most widely grown. This late season variety reliably produces heavy crops of sweet, small-medium berries year after year. A favorite for baking. Matures 6-8’.

Elliott is a very late season variety that extends the berry season and offers bright burgundy-colored wood, deep red fall foliage, and tangy, small to medium, sky blue berries. Matures 5-7’.

Oh the Varieties!

Blueberries can keep you from feeling blue! Blueberries can help improve your memory, lower our risk factors for some cancers, and offer many natural sources of antioxidants for optimum health!

Blueberries are bature’s number one source of antioxidants amoung fresh fruits and veetables according to the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging.

So what are antioxidants? Antioxidants are phytochemicals that help neutralize harmful byproducts of metabolism called free radicals that are believed to be the threat that initiates disease problems. The antioxidants are believed to be important in preventing cancer, stroke, heart disease, and loss of memory resulting from Alzheimer’s disease.

The North American Blueberry Council says that blueberry juice has higher concentrations of antioxidants than any of the 40 juices tested. Other health benefits from blueberries are Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin C, Niacin, and the minerals calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and iron.

For Your Health


Home fruit gardeners can be successful if they select the right grape cultivars, maintain a good fertility and pest management program, and properly prune grapevines annually. Here’s everything you need to know:

Location: Grapes can be grown almost anywhere where soil is fertile and well-drained, and where plants receive sun most of the day.

Planting: Once you have chosen a location, dig a hole twice as wide and the same depth as your root ball. Gently loosen the roots and place in the hole. Combine the existing soil with compost and topsoil and fill the hole so that settled soil will leave the plant at the same level at which it was in the pot. Shredded leaves & bark work well as mulch to prevent weed composition.

Trellis: Before growth begins the second year, a support for the vines, either a trellis or an arbor, must be provided. Vines planted for training on a trellis are normally placed 8 feet apart, while those planted for training on an arbor can be placed 4 feet apart. Ease of picking fruit and pruning should be kept in mind when considering trellis options. Often the existing property may suggest a location adjacent to a porch or walkway.

Watering: These plants need to be watered well. Grapes require approximately 1 inch of water per week through the first growing season. Walter plants every 7-10 days during dry weather.

Fertilizing: Grapes perform best where the soil pH is between 5.0 and 6.0. Apply lime only when soil indicates a need. Keep fertilizer 6-12 inches from the trunk and spread evenly ender the spread of the vine.

Pruning: Grape vines must be pruned annually to encourage a high yield of good quality grapes. Pruning is best done in winter or early spring . No pruning is necessary during the first year. During the winter following the first year select the strongest stem, remove all other stems, and stake the remaining stem. This will become your trunk and allow stems to grow from the trunk. In spring begin removing all but two of the very best side shoots. During mid-summer of the 2nd year cut back the trunk when it reaches he desired height. Remove any new side branches that don’t fit your plan. Cut back all but the desired side branches and the main trunk druing the 2nd winter.

Benefits of planting grapes:

Taste: Immediatley after harvest, the nutients and flavor are the highest amoung grapes.

Food Security: The benefit of growing your own food is that you know first-hand where it came from and how it was grown.

Savings: Certain foods are more economical to grow at home than to purchase. Basically, more bang for your buck!

That Was Easy!: Growing your own crops is fun and educational. You can get your family to help along side you as well!

Sustainability: Consuming locally grown produce can be an important part of reducing energy inputs and protecting our environment.

Growing

GrapesEdible Landscaping


Grapes are a grate healthy snack for when you’re on the go or at home. Grapes are a good source of vitamins A, C, and B6. Also, minerals like potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, as well as trace amounts of copper, manganese and zinc are also found in grapes.

Antioxidants are known to help neutralize harmful byproducts of metabolism called free radicals that are believed to be the threat that initiates disease problems.

Antioxidants are also believed to be important in preventing cancer, strokes, heart disease, and loss of memory resulting from Alzheimer’s disease.

So eat your grapes!

Seedless Table Grapes

Concord Seedless: This compromises the majority of all grape plantings due to its reliability under widely varying conditions. This mid-season variety has a long ripening time.

Himrod: This is an early season variety. It produces large, loosely filled bunches of medium-sized, white grapes with a honey-like flavor and melting, juicy texture. These grapes can be dries as raisins.

Muscadines: These are a southern native grape variety. They do have seeds, but taste somewhat legendary among aficionados and they are easy to grow without the use of chemicals. Three varieties in this group:-Carlos: these yield huge, delicious, golden-bronze grapes often more than an inch in diameter. This grape is a favorite for juice and jelly.-Cowart:this plant yields large, delicious, golden-bronze grapes usually more than an inch in diameter. This grape is excellent for juice and jelly. -Magnolia: this is a mid-season variety that yields small, flavorful, bronze berries that are excellent for wine, juice, or fresh eating.

Reliance: this is the most cold hardy of the seedless varieties. This early season grape produces large clusters of medium -sized red berries with tender skins and a sweet flavor.

Vanessa: This is a medium-sized, red dessert grape with a mild, fruity flavor and a firm to crisp texture. The vine is moderately vigorous and one of the hardest.

Venus: this is a vigorous, productive vine that bears early ripening, medium clusters of large blue-black grapes with great flavor.

Wine Grapes

Cayuga White: this was developed from crosses of the hybrids Schuyler and Seyval Blanc. It is a versatile, fast-growing grape that can produce fruit in just two years. It can be made into a semisweet wine with a fruity aroma, or oak aged into a dry, less fruity wine.

Chambourcin: this is a late-ripening grape that requires a long growing season. It produces large moderately loose bunches of medium-sized blue berries.

Chardonnay: This is thought to be the premier white wine grape. It produces the great white Burgundy wines including Chablis, Poully-Fuiss, and Montrachet. It is an early ripening

variety and one of the hardiest wine grapes.

Marechal Foch: This is classified as a Teinturier, meaning that this dark skinned grape has red rather than the white pulp found in most grapes. It is very early ripening, yielding small black grapes that produce a fruity, light red table wine.

Merlot: This grape produces large yields of medium-sized, deep black fruit.

Pinot Noir: This is one of the oldest grape varieties to be cultivated for the purpose of making wine. It has small, dark blue grapes that produce a dry, delicate, pinkish-red wine.

Oh the Varieties!

For Your Health



Greens &

VegetablesHere are some helpful hints for growing vegetables and greens in April!

April showers bring May flowers! Heavy rains can cause erosion and drainage problems, especially on bare or newly planted beds. Be sure to watch out for places where water runs off the soil surface and consider mulching or changing the surface grading to stop runoff and prevent erosion.

™Try not to work the soil too early when it’s still cold and wet!

™To plant spring vegetables early, lay black plastic over the planting bed for a couple of weeks to warm the soil.

™Plant seed potatoes and lettuce, spinach, and mesclun seed directly in prepared garden soil.

™Plant raddish, carrot, and beet seeds as well as onion sets and shallots.

™Near the end of the month, plant broccoli and cabbage seedlings that you started last month out in the garden.

™Encorporate soil-building activ-ities into your gardening plans. If you have spring cover crops in your rotation plan, plant them now. If you planted a cover crop last fall, incorporate it as soon as you can work the soil.

™Make sure to mulch your beds or you’ll spend the next 5 months or so weeding

™Reduce weed potential in garden beds by lightly cultivating bare soil and leaving it uncovered for a few days to let weed seeds freshly brought to the surface germinate. Once you see sprouts, grab a hoe and lay them low. Do this a couple of times before you plant. Use mulch between seedling rows and around transplants to keep light from reaching any weed seeds that remain.

™Rake mulch away from your strawberry beds and rosebushes, but keep the materials nearby in case of a late frost. Give your soil the spring squeeze test. If a handful crumbles in your fist and doesn’t form a dense ball, it’s dry enough to work with.

Tips for April:

BrassicaThe brassica family, which includes collards, cabbage, broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, are ready to be transplanted.

Brassicas take well to companion planting, so placing them in between plants that will have long, thin stalks, such as elephant garlic or onions, will still give them ample growing space and sunlight. Interplanting lettuces and spinach is a great way to maximize growing space, as these can be planted fairly densely in between broccoli plants, and will actually enjoy the shade on sunnier days. Brassicas also benefit from growing near chamomile, dill, mint, rosemary, and sage, but avoid placing them right by tomatoes, peppers or eggplant.

LettuceOne of the vegetable garden’s most versatile plants, lettuce comes in an amazing array of colors, shapes, and tastes. Plant a few seeds every week and you’ll have a constant crop for fresh salads.

Here’s a hint: Planting lettuce in a shady spot in the summer months keeps the plant cool, so you can harvest into the hot months.

Lettuce (Latuca sativa) is cool season annual in the Compositae family, which includes endive, escarole, chicory, globe artichoke, sunflower, Jerusalem artichoke, salsify, and burdock.Looseleaf- var.crispa. First to maturity, these fast growing lettuces do not form a head. Good for babyleaf culture.Butterhead - also known as bib, or Boston, this type forms a loose head with slightly oily leaves. Beautiful, sweet and tender, but bruises and tears easily.Romaine – var.longfolia. Romaine forms a tall dense upright head with a tender heart. It tolerates warm temperatures and is less prone to bolting.Iceberg – var. capitata. The fussiest type to grow, iceberg will form a compact round head if given a long cool season. It bolts easily if stressed.

Organic Onions - Growing Info Types of Onions

Onions (Allium cepa) are cool season biennials, members of the Amaryllidaceae family, which includes garlic, leeks, chives and scallions. Onions started from seed store better than sets, but mature later. Bulbing onions are dependent on day length for bulb production; short-day onions produce bulbs when they receive 11-12 hours of daylight, long-day onions need 14-16 hours (latitudes north of 35º), and moderate day onions like Walla Walla and Gladstone fall in between these.

What is it?Edible Landscaping replaces plants that are strictly ornamental with plants that produce food, allowing you to create a multi-functional landscape providing returns on your investment of water, fertilizer, and time.

Some benefits...

Taste and Nutrition- Nutrients and flavor in most plants are highest immediately after harvest. This means that the freshness is right at the tip of your fingertips!

Savings!- Foods such as pomegranates and figs are more economical to grow at home rather than to purchase. Some fruits are also unattainable in traditional grocery stores, such as bush cherries, currants or gooseberries.

Sustainability- Consuming locally grown produce can be an important part of reducing energy inputs and protecting our environment.

Bringing These Fruits HomeThere are many ways to plant these specialty fruits, but here are some options:

Patio Plantings- These are very fashionable today and you can add some Mediterranean flare to your outside rooms with some container-ed figs!

Ornamental Trees- The flowers on pomegranate trees are exotic and the fruit is strikingly beautiful and delicious!

Trellises- Hardy Kiwi vines are wonderful in vertical trellises. Kiwi fruit is expensive in stores so why not grow them in your own backyard!

Edible Landscaping


Specialty Fruits

Oh the Varieties!

Figs Figs are ideal edible landscaping plants. They are productive with or without heavy pruning. In colder climates provide frost protection: plant against wall which provides heat from radiation, erect a frame to cover the plant in winter, or grow in a large planter that can be brought into a warmer location.

Brown Turkey: This fruit bears a large, rich purplish-brown fruit with delicious strawberry-pink flesh mid-season.

Celeste: this is known as the “sugar fir.” It produces medium-sized fruit with a ligth brown to violet skin and strawberry-pink flesh early in the season.

LSU Purple: This fruit bears small purple to burgundy figs of excellent flavor and figh sugar content.

Arctic KiwiKiwis are cultivated as ornamentals and for their edible fruit. They climb by twining. Most species are quite vigorous and ca-pable of growing to a large size, so trellises need to be provided. Plants are long-lived, having been known to produce fruit for at least sixty years. The fruit can contain several times as much vitamin C, ounce for ounce, as citrus fruits.

Pomegranate ‘Wonderful’Pomegranate ‘Wonderful’ is the oldest of the commercial cultivars. The fruit is very large, dark purple-red, with a medium-thick rind and deep-red, juicy, winey pulp. The fruit will last for weeks without refrigeration and does not discolor or bruise easily.

CurrantsAll varieties of currants are rich in bioflavonoids that are thought to boost the antioxidant effect of vitamin C. Black currants in particular are renowned for their high vitamin C content and have been shown to have twice the potassium of bananas.

Consort/Ben Sarek: these are extremely productive varieties of currants that ripen early to mid-season. This fruit is great in jellies, jams, and sauces.

Red LakeThis produces clusters of large, red, late-ripening berries that possess a mild flavor.

GooseberriesThese are a great source of vitamin C, and a good source of vitamin A, calcium, iron, and phosphorus.

Houghton-these are small, roundish-oval, light grteen-shaded red berries with juicy flesh.

Invicta- this bears huge, sweet, greenish-yellow berries that are delicious eaten fresh or in pies and preserves.

Pixwell- this bears green berries that ripen to pale pink-soft, juicy, and high in sugar.


blackberries raspberries - rodale instituterodaleinstitute.org/assets/plantsale.pdf · blackberries...

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