How Research, Deer, and Trial-and-Error Built Our Blackberry Rows
Hi friends,
A “hat” full of blackberries
A few years ago I was approached by Durham County’s Agricultural Agent with the Cooperative Extension to see if I would grow a row of blackberries. They were interested in comparing several common varieties to a new blackberry variety developed at NC State. I was supposed to record observations on vigor, yield, disease and insect pressure for the 5 varieties. Sure. Sounds like fun. I had absolutely no idea how to grow blackberries. I got the soil tested, spread the appropriate amendments, and plowed the area to prepare for planting.
When the plants arrived they were so small. The size of a small seedling. They had been developed in a lab to make sure they were free of diseases. I planted them in the carefully prepared row and covered them with a nice layer of leaf mulch. I turned the irrigation on and kind of forgot about them. I was growing ornamental grasses for Hoffman Nursery at the time. It wasn’t long before the deer found the blackberry plants. The ditches and field edges might be covered in wild blackberries, but the deer seem to have a special fondness for plants that I, David Heeks, put in the ground. The deer just constantly nibbled these plants for the first year, so they really never had a chance to become anything but a small bush about the size of a basketball. One day the Ag Agent brought over some temporary deer fencing and some 10’ electrical conduit and we MacGyvered an enclosure for the blackberry plants. There was no deer fence around the PYO field at the time.
Basket of blackberries
It actually took three years before I finally got a harvest from those berry plants. It was worth the wait. The varieties in the original planting are Caddo, Von, Ouachita, Galaxy and Eclipse. Over time I dug up any cane that sprouted outside the row and used them to create additional rows of blackberries. This winter I expanded the rows to make them longer and planted 2 new varieties. I also installed the V trelllis system with H braces to support the blackberry canes. I’m really glad I did that. These canes are so loaded this year they need the extra support provided by the wire.
The berries are ripening everywhere in the row. You can hunt high, low or in the middle of the row. With blackberries you want the berry to be fully black. A fully ripe berry is easier to pull off than an unripe berry. All our blackberries are thornless so you don’t have to worry about getting all scratched up. It’s summer and that means blackberry season.
We have blackberries and blueberries for picking. We also have washington cherry tomatoes, basil and roma tomatoes. The farm is open for picking on Saturday from 8am to 5pm. We are also open Monday-Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Your Farmer,
David Heeks
P.S. While I do think the variety developed at NC State, “Von”, is more disease and insect resistant, I did not order any more of this variety when I expanded the blackberry patch. Unfortunately I think the best blackberry varieties are coming out of Arkansas. Go Razorbacks?
P.P.S. If you’re on nextdoor, would you “fave” me. I just starting using this app this week, and the response has been amazing. Help other neighbors find me. I’d appreciate it!