GROWING SMALL FRUITS AND BERRIES 

Last week you got the primer on planting vegetables.  Hopefully you have taken to heart what I said and gone out and plowed up the entire front yard!  Well, maybe not the entire yard.  But at least enough to plant a few rows of carrots, some lettuce, peas and potatoes and when the weather warms up enough some beans and cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers and of course one zucchini plant.  Now it is time to think about some berries and small fruits.  Here is a crash course on growing these tasty treats.

Choosing a location 

            All day sun      

            Good soil and drainage—consider raised beds if your soil sucks.

Choosing the best varieties— 

            Strawberries—June bearing or Everbearing

            Raspberries—June bearing or Everbearing

            Blueberries—dwarf or standard, deciduous or evergreen

            Blackberries, Marion berries, Logan berries, etc.

            Grapes—must be suitable for the northwest

            Kiwis—fuzzy or hardy types

            Currants—they come in several colors  

            Gooseberries—it must be an acquired taste!

Pollination—requires bees, either honey or Mason (native) 

            Self-pollinating—everything other than blueberries

Planting and Spacing 

            Blueberries—3-4 feet apart, dwarf can be closer

            Raspberries—2 feet apart in rows   

            Strawberries—1 foot apart

            Blackberries—2 feet or more

            Grapes and Kiwis—6 feet or more

            Currants and Gooseberries—4-6 feet

Watering—shrubs like blueberries, gooseberries and currants and vines like grapes and kiwis can be watered once a week or less if you use a basin and mulch.              Strawberries probably need more frequent watering.  The important thing is          to not stress the plants for best fruit quality.  Always check soil moisture with             your fingers before watering.

Feeding—feed in spring and again after harvest.  Use a well balanced fertilizer             unless your plant is struggling or needs a swift kick in the butt.  Then use a             higher nitrogen fertilizer like an organic lawn food.

Mulching—I am a big fan of spreading a 1-2 inch layer of compost over the soil in             the spring after you have weeded and fertilized.  This will keep future weeds             at bay, hold in moisture and provide micronutrients to the soil complex.

Thinning—very important for grapes and kiwis but not really an issue for anything else.  Thinning is done by pruning in the winter.

Insects  

            Not too many to worry about as a general rule, sometimes aphids, mites or             thrips.  Use anything other than a systemic

Diseases 

            Blueberries—mummy berry, sanitation and/or copper spray, change variety

            Grapes—mildew, most any fungicide

            Lichens and Algae—not really diseases

            Gooseberry and/or Currants—rust, use a fungicide

            Strawberries—sometimes rust or mildew-use a fungicide

Pruning 

            Blueberries—only remove dead wood and shape; old plants can be             rejuvenated by removing 1/3 of growth yearly.  Remember, pruning             stimulates growth

            Raspberries—depends on whether they are June bearing or Everbearing.  I             will explain below.

            Strawberries--Prune back and clean up in spring.

            Grapes and Kiwis—heavy whacking in the late winter is mandatory.  If you       are a pruning wimp then let someone else do it.

            Blackberries—remove two year old canes after harvest

            Currants and Gooseberries—occasional pruning is all you need to do

All of the above fruits can be easily incorporated into any landscape.  Blueberries are an attractive shrub with fabulous fall color.  Gooseberries and Currants also fall into this category.  Grapes and Kiwis need strong support for growing so plan on using them with an arbor or trellis to add structure to the garden.  Strawberries can essentially be used as a ground cover.  So that just leaves raspberries and blackberries which admittedly can be kind of homely so it might be best to locate them somewhere out of sight.

As for pruning raspberries, if they bear just once a year like blackberries then cut the canes to the ground after harvest.  The remaining canes will bear the following June.  If they are “everbearing” or “fall bearing” types then you have two choices.  These types of raspberries bear on current season’s growth starting in the late summer and on into the fall.  These same canes will produce a second crop the following spring just like a traditional raspberry.  You can either cut all the canes to the ground every winter and start out fresh in the spring or treat them like a June bearer and cut them down the second season after harvest.

Now is the perfect time to plant any or all of the above fruits.  Remember, unlike vegetables, you won’t get much of anything to eat this year.  You will see a few more treats next year and then in the third season you really start to see the results of your investment.  So the sooner you start, the sooner you get to enjoy.