I have a patch of wild blackcaps myself. Love em, even though they're small, they make the BEST pies, jelly, jam, etc. I've got about 40 feet of row, and its about 5 feet wide. Well, it's kind of late for this year to shape them up before harvest -- just do your best and accept the fact that there are some in the middle you probably won't reach, unless you can borrow a suit of armor from someone. Now, the good news -- you can make this a LOT easier to handle next year. The old canes ("floricanes") that are blooming and soon to bear fruit are all going to die within a few weeks of the last berries getting ripe, so if you cut those in the harvest process, no big deal. The NEW canes ("Primocanes") that emerged from the ground this spring are probably about 2 to 4 feet tall now (depending upon where you are in IL, more north = shorter due to later spring than S. IL). Those you can shape up nicely for next year. If you just let them grow, they form the tangled mess. What you need to do is to TOP the new canes at around 4 to 5 feet tall -- just cut the center out when it reaches that height. This will make it branch out a lot, and, more importantly, NOT flop over and NOT grow into the tangled mess. You may need to come back one more time in the season and pinch out some of the tips of the new side branches before THOSE get out of control. I've pruned black raspberries here any time between mid July and about Labor Day and had good success getting them to branch for the next year. Also, at some point after all of the berries are done, you need to go in there and cut all of the old fruiting canes off to ground level. This is one of the harder jobs, since they are thorny, but you can't leave all of that dead wood in there, it just makes an impenetrable thicket in a few years. If you do it right, you will end up with a MUCH more manageable bed, and as many if not more berries, because all of that branching turns into fruiting wood next year. It takes me maybe an hour to two hours to do this job every year, and it really makes a night and day difference on the manageability of the patch and ease of picking for the next year.

I agree with Oregonwoodsmoke. I planted bare root grape vines 2 years ago, and next year I can let them have grapes, but I really should wait another year. I've been pinching them all off to let the vines get really established. 3 years is a LONG time!! You can definitely do bud grafting on those trunks, and those older vines will bear fruit in a year, as long as they are in the sun and are getting some care. You didn't mention where you live, and your climate will tell you which grapevines will grow best where you are. You can order grapevine cuttings from UC Davis for free (but you have to pay for shipping with a Fed Ex account), and then you can either graft buds or the entire cuttings onto your established vines. They take orders till Dec. 1st, and ship in March-April. Do a search on You Tube for T-Bud Grafting. The video will show you how. Here is a good link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNP9OlGwwTo&feature=related Suzi Here is a link that might be useful: UC Davis Grape Collection

I threw a bunch of seeds into my garden bed last year after I cleaned and dried my peppers. I have little pepper plants growing all around my tomato plants. They just popped up one day. I had no intentions of growing them in my raised bed. I usually plant my peppers in pots. I have no idea what they are. It's exciting to wait and see what they turn out to be. Tim

Yeah,it was an impossible mission.Most of the vines were cut but there are some tubers with theirs still attached.I planted most of tubers in the same pot and will plant some in the garden as a groundcover and see how it goes.