Transplanting Blackberries

A couple of days ago, we dug the huge trench to bury the wiring from the solar array to the house.  That trench went right past the "blackberry jungle", which is the affectionate name that J. has given our backyard now that our Triple Crown blackberries are attempting to take it over.  Some of the canes on these plants were over 12 feet long and, as they outgrew our measly trellis and arched over, they dug into the ground below the raised bed and started sprouting babies. 

The trencher had to go through there, so I had about 15 or so plants that I had to evaluate for whether they should be saved or not.  We really want to move the bulk of the blackberries up to the new lots and expand the number that we have, so it makes sense that we move them.  Unfortunately, I didn't have 15 pots and couldn't save them all, but I did manage to save over half.

Unfortunately, this isn't the best time to be transplanting these beauties since it's really stinkin' hot.  I'm really worried that they wilt from the combination of distress from being dug up and the heat if I put them in direct sunlight, so they're resting in the shade of the house for now.  Cool weather can't be far off and we'll transplant them to their final resting spot on the vacant lots once it's here.

Thief!

EVI 001.  Photo of suspect committing berry misdemeanor

SOMEBODY has been stealing some of our blackberries and I just happened to catch the little booger in the act this evening.  This little rat-tailed squirrel came sneaking over on the top of the fence, climbed straight down and then disappeared into the blackberry canes only to reappear with a big fat blackberry in his mouth.  He then proceeded to devour the evidence right there on top of the fence while showing absolutely no guilt or remorse (or regard for any humans). A second trip yielded no more ripe berry treats, so he scampered off wit his tail a-twitchin' in frustration.  What a brat!

Blackberry Bliss

DISCLAIMER:  An addictive blackberry jam recipe can be found at the bottom of this post.  The owner of this blog can in no way be held responsible for your making and eating too much of this delicious, silky, yummy, sweet summer in a jar...

....nom nom nom...

We got our first berries of the season last Wednesday (July 9th) and have been picking them by the handfuls every evening ever since. The Triple Crowns are the giant, fat berries and the Arapahos are the smaller ones.

Sometimes they don't make it into the house. Mmmm...fresh picked blackberries are the best! 

Hey, wait a minute....I pick them and J. eats them.  Something's wrong with this picture!

But J's favorite way of eating them is to let them marinate in the frig for awhile in some milk and sugar. 

Me?  I love blackberry jam but, even though I'm picking like mad, they're disappearing and I don't think we're going to have enough to make any.  But I'm going to rectify that situation this fall because I'm rooting a whole mess of new plants that I'll be transplanting to the new lots this fall.  Did you know they're insanely easy to root?  Just bend the end of a cane over, cover it with some dirt and weight it down so it doesn't move.  The plant will root itself.  Find a friend who has blackberry plants...you'll never have to buy them!

Anyway, you know what else is easy?  Making blackberry jam.  So, even though I may not get to make any this year, I thought I would share my canning recipe with you.

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"Summer In a Jar" Blackberry Jam (canning method)

makes 3 pint jars (or 6  8-oz jars)

Ingredients

5 cups blackberries (washed and drained)
7 cups sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)

2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
1 (1 3/4 ounce) package dry pectin 

Directions

1. Measure out the berries and then wash them to remove any debris, ants, etc.
2. If you don't want seeds in your jam, you'll need to use seedless blackberries or de-seed them by running them from a food mill OR mashing them through a strainer into a large pot.  The seeds will stay in the strainer!
3. If you don't de-seed them, you can mash them directly in a pot.  For this recipe, you'll want to use at least an 8 quart pot.
4. Heat on high and add the pectin to the berries a little at a time, stirring constantly until the berries come to a full boil.
5. Add the sugar all at once, continuing to stir until the berries return to a full boil.
6. Boil for 1 minute.
7. Remove from heat and skim any foam from the top, if necessary.
8. Ladle into clean, hot pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch space at the top.
9. Wipe the rim of the jar and put canning lids and rings on fingertip tight.
10. Place the jars in the prepared canner (water should already be hot) and make sure the water is 1 inch above jars.
11. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
12. Remove the jars and set them upright on a towel away from drafts until cool (overnight works great).
13. (optional) Just try to keep some of this to enjoy in the dead of winter.  Seriously...just try it.  It never works here at Cranky  Puppy! 

 I've shared this post with this week's Homestead Barn Hop.  Go check it out!

Blackberries Galore

The blackberries we planted a couple of years ago are going a bit nuts this year.  And, since I discovered they are now trying to climb up our neighbor's tree and across our back patio, it was time to give them a little attention this weekend.  They are LOADED with berries that are starting to turn red and ripen.

But first...gloves (watch out for poison ivy!), machete, and safari hat.  A spotted leopard darted from the thick jungle as we dove in to cut back all the overgrowth on the far end of the bed.  Okay, maybe it was really just the neighbor's cat and MAYBE it was just weeds and overgrown neighbor trees that all needed to be cleared.  

We got most of the brush out of the way, but we still need to pull out an old trellis that we put up when we first bought the house 16 years ago.  It's in the way of our pulling out some old weed trees that have grown up between it and the fence.

Once we have everything cleaned up, we'll be able to move the blackberry plants that have rooted where they shouldn't have.

Did you know blackberries are insanely easy to grow?  I had no idea that it was so easy to root them off an existing plant...just stick the end of one of the shoots into the ground and weight it down.  It will grow roots and a new plant.  So find a friend who has some and ask if they'll root some for you.  I will never pay for blackberry plants again!

Saturday Stills

Hi, I'm back! 
After a week of hiding because of the blistering heat, I've found that I'm still alive and desperately needing to put a post on here. 

It's very rare that you don't end up cooking in your own juices within 5 minutes of setting foot outside here at the end of the July.  But we are being blessed this weekend with 79 degree weather and a beautiful sunny day.  We spent a fun time this evening talking with the neighbors and I ventured out to pull some weeds and check on the garden. 

I guess the world does go on without my constant attention, because here's what I found:

This just in!  Chickens still like the bug buffet in our yard....

Looking good, ladies.  Looking good!

The Roma tomato plants have definitely been busy.  I see some sauce making in our future!

And here's one of the peppers to go with it.  

Please ignore the weeds - they were exiled soon after I took these pics.

The much-awaited Honeycrisp apple trees are literally bending under the weight of the apples now.  J. and I may have to rig up something to help them bear the weight.  I can't wait to sink my teeth into one of these!

And the blackberries are starting to ripen...

We've been getting one or two here and there, but not enough for a big bowl of ice cream or pie.  They're coming though! That is,  if we can keep the birds out of them.  I've been convinced that the darn neighborhood birds have been eating them before we can pick the ripe ones and I now have proof.  While were sitting on the patio with the neighbors, we heard an uproar from the blackberry bush where a blackbird was trying to make off with one of our berries.  It may be air rifle time.  :-)

Finally, I discovered that we're not the only ones engaged in some renovation activity. It looks like a spider has been busy building a funnel trap underneath one of my Roma tomato plants.

 
I waited to see if the creepy little homeowner would show his face, but to no avail.  He must be shy.  Or maybe he's out at Home Depot getting some more building supplies.  Seems like it always takes us about 184 trips to that place for whatever project we're working on.

Hope everyone is doing well!  I'm off to make the bloggie rounds now to see what you guys are up to.

A Day for Firsts

I'm so upset about the situation with the house that I just really don't want to talk about it right now.  Maybe in a couple of days.

In the meantime, how about some positive news?  We got our first tomatoes!

The fat tomato in the upper right hand corner is our first Cherokee Purple that we pulled (and J. promptly ate it on a hamburger last night, so I'm glad I took the pic fast!).  The 3 red tomatoes in the middle of the picture from top to bottom are our first Roma, followed by our first 2 Early Girls.

Then a straggler strawberry sitting next to our first blackberry!

On Saturday, J. and I attended Tomato Fest at one of the local farmer's market and they didn't have many tomatoes.  Seems odd, doesn't it, being tomato fest and all?  But we did find a few.  One gentleman had some Cherokee Purple tomatoes that were terribly eaten up with cutworms.  Only the small one on the right side of the picture was decent, so we bought it thinking it would tide J. over until ours ripen.

In addition to the nice bunch of carrots, we also found some purple potatoes.  I've always wanted to try those since seeing them on a episode of Chopped.  If you roast them, they keep their purple color throughout.  When we make them, I'll post some pics.

Apparently I missed some garlic when I harvested last year, because it came up again as volunteer.  I went ahead and pulled them and dried them.  The bulbs are smaller, but I'll be able to use them this fall to start another crop.  A first - volunteer garlic!

And, finally, on Saturday, Christine and Dave from The Deadly Nightshade (our new neighbors!) threw a really fun soiree.  We spent a lot of time talking to a couple who moved from Colorado and bought a huge Victorian house about 3 streets over from us.  I love how you can meet new people and just instantly know you're going to be great friends.

Anyway, it was a potluck so J. and I tried another couple of firsts..... 

Cheesecake tarts topped with fresh raspberries

and....

Mini apple and cherry pies made in a muffin tin.  So easy and cute!

How do they look?  They were scrumptious and must have been a big hit, since we came home with an empty plate.  If anyone wants the recipe or directions on how we made these, let me know and I'll post it.

By the way, I'm sharing this post with this week's Homestead Barn Hop. Go check out what other folks are up to!

Fruits of Our Labor

One of my fondest childhood memories is of my grandfather and I driving the dusty country roads together.  It was just restlessness - I think, like me, he didn't want to live in the city and was happiest when we were out driving.  Sometimes it was just for the heck of it, but we often went out morel hunting in the early Spring.  And he knew all the "secret" places where the wild blackberries and raspberries grew on the fence lines off these quiet roads.  We'd go home loaded with berries, chiggers and ticks, but neither of us cared. 

Those wild berries can be hard to spot and their flowers are teeny.  But look at the flowers on my Triple Crown blackberries.  They must be a good 2 inches across.

Who knew that blackberry flowers could be so beautiful? 

That's one of the new plants that I just added a couple of weeks ago.  The existing blackberry plants are growing like crazy and covered in berries.  We'll be rolling in the blackberries this year, I think. 

It's going to be a good year for strawberries also.  Here's one of the little plants blooming it's little heart out back in late April.

The whole bed is now bursting with strawberry plants and runner.  Oh, and berries.  Mmmmmm!

We harvested a pound and a half last night alone, and J. cut them up and enjoyed them with some milk and sugar.  These are Ozark Beauty berries, but he's taken to calling them "Ozark Tasties".  I think he might be on to something.

In other fruit news, one of the silly Honeycrisp apple trees that we dug up and put in a container now has our first little apples on it!  I think there are about 6, so we're not going to have a bumper crop but we definitely welcome our first apples here at Cranky Puppy Farm.  I can't wait....

It was while I was looking at the tree that I noticed that another farmer has taken up residence on the farm and is herding his livestock on my land without my permission.  Stay tuned, because I'll have pics and more on that for you tomorrow.

Shared with: Homestead Barn Hop and Tuesday Garden Party

Unplanned Gardening

Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me.

 - Carl Sandburg

I'm the planner in the family and, well....J.?  Not so much.  So it wasn't surprising that he sprung on me at Home Depot this weekend that "wouldn't it be nice to plant some cabbage so that we could make slaw?"  Oh...and "those Early Girl tomatoes did so well last year, so maybe we should plant some of those also."

I hadn't planned for either of those and I could see my beautiful garden plan slipping away with every word.  (Hey...a little moment of melodrama never hurt anyone.)  But how could I say no to my one true love?

So two little Stonehead cabbage plants went in the cart along with two healthy-looking Early Girl tomato plants.  Little did I know (and I should have paid more attention) that those two cabbage plants were actually 8 cabbage plants!

J. accused me of being unhinged when I described this little cabbage plant as "cute"? It IS cute!

We planted everything tonight, with a couple of the cabbages going in the bed with the cucumbers, squash and beans.  I'm hoping that this won't be an issue since we'll be trellising everything and they'll have room.  I'm also going to move the lettuce over there, so that freed up just enough space to put the Early Girls on the south end of the westmost bed near the Romas.  The rest of the cabbages?  Planted in a raised bed in our backyard by the hot tub.  Which is where our blackberries are.  Speaking of....we planted another Apache thornlesss blackberry bush there as well tonight.

Storms are coming tomorrow and all next week it looks like, so I'll be keeping an eye on these tender little plants.  I hope it's not a washout like it was last week.  We're about 2.5" over average for this month and still running abot 20 degrees warmer than usual!

What were you up to this weekend?

This post is linked to the Country Homemaker Hop.  Check out what other folks are up to!