Backyard Farming (Gardening)

Whether you call it farming or gardening makes no difference to me. I rather like the sound of farming, but based on overall scale it's really probably closer to gardening than farming. Nonetheless I am growing food in my small urban backyard.

I have neighbors on all four sides and some of them are a little on the "particular" side (some might call it "picky" even). A few of them mow their yards twice per week and I have no doubt if it rained a little bit more one of them would probably go to mowing three times a week.

With that as a backdrop, I wanted to share some pictures of our small backyard food production strategy which includes 10 Earthboxes, a 4' x 4' above ground bed, a 4' x 20' in ground bed, 4 miscellaneous containers, and a canvas bag hanging from a metal pole made for holding bird feeders.

Strawberrie in a repurposed flower pot

A hanging bag laying horizontal

A "hanging" bag

An Earthbox growing peas



Above ground bed with onions, radishes, carrots, and two blackberry bushes.

 Folks in states located south of Michigan are probably harvesting produce in large quantities at this point of May, but we had two nights of hard frost no less than 2 weeks ago. I grow impatient at this point of the northern growing season, but you know what they say, "good things come to those who wait".

Canada Red Rhubarb and Cheyenne Blackberries

Photo from degroot-inc.com

We purchased two rhubarb starts today.  The Canada Red variety is cold weather resistant and suitable for our location in Michigan.  It will be a while before the ground warms enough for planting, but I couldn't resist the purchase because some suppliers are already out of supply for the 2012 growing season.   

My grandmother had a lot of rhubarb in her garden and used it in pie making.  As I recall she would freeze it and then make pies from it later in the year when apples, blackberries, gooseberries, and strawberries were out of season.

I purchased the rhubarb from De Groot Inc. out of Coloma, Michigan.  They have a large display at the local Meijer store. Contact information for the company is included below:

De Groot, Inc.
P.O. Box 934
Coloma, Michigan 49038

Phone:  1-800-253-2876

Fax:  1-269-468-6717

Email:  sales@degroot-inc.com

The rhubarb description at http://www.degroot-inc.com/ explains that one rhubarb plant is enough for several pies.  When we lived in Florida we had to settle for pies made from frozen rhubarb, since it doesn't grow well in extreme heat.  Linda has purchased it locally at the grocery store and the clerk didn't even know what it was.  I am looking foward to growing my own.  A fresh baked rhubarb pie coupled with a few scoops of vanilla ice cream is hard to beat.

Photo from degroot-inc.com

We also picked up some Cheyenne variety blackberry shrubs. The Cheyenne variety are not thornless, but they are more resistant to the colder temperatures we get here in Southeastern Michigan.  Blackberries are another fruit that are excellent for pie baking, but I like them fresh from the vine too.

I tried to grow blackberries in containers when we lived in Florida. I went through five different plants before I finally had to throw in the towel on the effort.  This time I'll plant them directly in the ground and top dress with compost on a regular basis.

The Blackberry Saga Continues....

Last night while at Home Depot picking up some more river rock for my aquaponics gardening project, I noticed some blackberry bush transplants in 1 gallon containers and couldn't resist picking up a couple.

My two previous attempts with the smaller blackberry transplants didn't work out well (they all died), but these 1 gallon transplants look much more promising. They are farther along in growth process and should work out much better (fingers crossed).

Triple Crown Thornless Blackberry Bush from Home Depot

Instructions to care for the plant on the back

Blackberry Container #1

Blackberry Container #2

I've tried two other sets of blackberry plants in these same containers.  When I removed the old ones to transplant these larger ones I noticed the roots were dead, which leaves me scratching my head as to what happened.  Hopefully my third try will be a winner!

I hope to grow these plants in containers, although drainage might be an issue.  Blackberries don't like to be "flooded" and won't tolerate "mucky soils".  These will get 6 - 7 hours of full sun each day. I'll just need to be careful about watering.

After these start growing in the pots, I'll fashion some sort of make-shift trellis to train the vines. The planting instructions say that the canes can be removed after fruiting.  I know these berry plants will never be as massive in containers as they would grow in the ground, but I've seen wild black berries take over an entire fence row. In our urban setting, I want to maintain more control over their growth.  Containers also add an element of portability to the bushes.  If I decided I don't like them in the front yard, I can simply move them to the backyard (hopefully) :-)

My Blackberry Failure

I am a Billy Joe Shaver fan, so it is moments like this that his song Try and Try Again rings true. 

I have tried to grow blackberry bushes in containers twice.  I purchased two plants from Lowes and two from Home Depot.  Both were "guaranteed to grow", but none of the bushes have grown to date.

Zip. Nada. Nuthin'.

The instructions for both said to keep the roots moist, which I have done, but none of them have demonstrated any growth to date. I guess I've got to keep trying.

It looks like it's going to be a while before I am enjoying my grandmother's blackberry cobbler recipe with berries I grow myself.  I decided to pass on the $30 bushes from a local nursery that were more established and opted for the $5 variety. It appears to be another case of "you get what you pay for", but I haven't given up just yet.

Blackberry Update

The blackberries I planted a couple of weeks ago are not doing well.  The package said, "guaranteed to grow'".  Note to nursery stock providers - it's risky to guarantee that something will grow because there's a good chance your customer is going to end up disappointed.  I think there are just too many variables to offer a guarantee.

The instructions said "water once per week" and "do not fertilize until growth appears".  I watered twice a week because of the dry weather we have been having, but I didn't use any fertilizer.  The plants were potted in clay containers using standard potting soil.

The berries were definitely alive when we purchased them, but I have doubts that they are still living.  I'll give it another week before we try something else.  I am still hopeful the berries will grow.

Maybe I can find a more mature blackberry transplant to use.

Growing Blackberries

While we continue to transform and, in some instances, completely replace our urban landscaping with edible food bearing plants, trees, and bushes it isn't surprising that we ended up planting two blackberry bushes this weekend. Besides being practical, relatively easy to grow, and of high personal sentimental value to me, it was inevitable that we'd eventually plant some blackberries.

As a child, I remember my grandmother giving me a plastic container and sending me out behind the hog barn to pick some blackberries from the massive bushes that had been there for decades.  It was fun and besides that, I got to eat all the free fruit I wanted while I worked.  Turning in a heaping bowl of blackberries also guaranteed that a blackberry cobbler and a bowl of vanilla ice cream would make an appearance as an after dinner desert.

According to Garden.org:

"Blackberries are among the easiest fruits to grow at home. Cultivated varieties have larger berries than the wild types. They'll start to bear the second year after planting and continue for about 15 years. Trained properly, four plants, each with a 3-by-3-foot growing area, can supply enough berries for a family of four. Where winters are not too severe, the new thornless varieties do well."

We've been looking for blackberry plants for several weeks from a local nursery source without any luck.  While walking around in Lowes on Sunday I ran into an assortment of berry bushes as I was leaving to include raspberry, blueberry and blackberries. Finally!

Most of the online sources sell the 2 year old berry plants for about $5, but require a $50 minimum order.  At Lowes, I picked up 2 of them for less than $10. What a deal. I only wish they were the thornless varierty, but you know what they say about beggars and choosers.

We decided to plant them in two large clay pots that Old Tyme Pottery had marked down to clearance levels.  Eventually they will become root bound in the pots and require some root pruning or re-potting, but hopefully we'll be set with the current containers for 3 or 4 years.

Front of package

Instructions for planting on the back

The instructions explain that once a week watering is required and that fertilizers shouldn't be used until new growth become visible. Easy peasy!