Blackberries are producing every day for the last 2 weeks. and still going strong. The blueberries have slowed to 2 fruits.. but then, i have only one producing the other is just planted.. The strawberries did ok this year. I did not get too many fruits this year. the figs are still green.. I am waiting to them to ripen.. the sour cherries.. The birds and the deer get them before i can get to them. the apple , peach and pear and plum are resting in eternity...:-(. the raspberries I just got from Ralph at the swap.. I got 4 berries from them... I am assuming it will grow bigger and produce more.. Ralph, could you tell me which cultivar it this one.? I am planning on getting a thornless one too. Still trying to decide which one.. I bought the box store ones.. Bad idea.. nothing grew even after a year. Tammy, Lisianthus, you mentioned a great place to me for buying fruit trees for less. Could you message me with the contact... address / ph # or email ..." please Thanks in advance

I'm thinking about Caroline Raspberries. I'm trying to learn more about brambles, but it sounds like for my zone everbearing raspberries are the best choice in brambles(?). I'm still researching it. My father had a row of red raspberries planted that he mowed down every year, so they must have been everbearing. They suffered from the WORST pest damage though....something devoured every single berry just as it reached the peak of ripeness. It happened at exactly the same time each day, which, oddly enough, happened to coincide with the time I came through the yard on the way home from school. :) We have a mulberry on the adjacent property which is legally zoned a "road," but is actually the wooded side of a hill. Since nobody owns it, we feel free to mooch all the berries. It's a terrific tree, but since we "have" one I'd like something different.

Don, I had a similar experience to you last year. Juice was nasty, no matter what I did. I decided to try again this year, and it was a night and day difference -- juice, while still astringent, was much more "edible," being similar to unadulterated cranberry juice, very good when diluted. It makes a very good mixed drink when diluted with somethink like 7-Up and/or other juices. I attribute the entire difference to the weather -- last year was warm and extremely dry, and the berries were very small, hard. This year, exact opposite, cold and moist, berries were very lush, juicy, and plump. So, I think growing conditions make a big difference. I posted about my Aronia harvesting on IDigMyGarden forum, with some pictures of the process. Here is a link that might be useful: Aronia Harvest and Processing on IDigMyGarden Forum

You might have been better off by incorporating your top dressings into the entire planting area months before planting. By just doing the top dressings, it could take some years for the soil to improve. Try hoeing some of your amendments into the upper soil, taking care to not disturb roots. The only way to accurately gauge watering is to probe a few inches into the soil to see how well it is taking up moisture. Blackberries don't care if they get their trunks wet; water the ground right up to the canes.