Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Berries, berries, and more berries...

I love berries.  It doesn't matter if they are grapes, cherries, Saskatoon, thimble berries, raspberries, chokecherries, currants, buffalo berries, naking cherries.  They can be wild or domestic.  I will use them to make pies, jam, or wine.  Quite a few just go straight to the belly. 

I am slowly making progress in my orchard.  Last year I just had berries from the naking cherries and currents.  This year I have cherries, naking cherries, currants, raspberries, two little sand cherries, and best of all 5 buffalo berries.  I still need to see progress from the plums, mulberries, black berries, and chokecherries.   It would also be nice if I got more than two sand cherries.  I must say a new orchard is a good way to teach an impatient gardener patience.    

The production from the cherry tree may be the demise of the chokecherries.  We bought the cherry tree on a lark.  I never thought in a million years it would survive much less produce a bunch of cherries.  Chokecherries grow wild here.  The ones in the orchard were only purchased because they were part of the Grandma Jam Pack Plants sold by the local county conservation district.  (I am not a grandma, but I love to make jam.)  The chokecherries may be looking for a new home this fall if I find more cherry trees. 
 I'm not sure what I'm going to do with naking cherries.  Next year I should have enough to really make something, maybe brandied cherries or jelly.   This year I finally had enough currents that I should be able to make a small batch of current jelly. 
Am I the only person bonkers for berries?  Does anyone else have an orchard?  If so what do you plant and what do you do with your harvest? 

9 comments:

  1. Oh how wonderful 1 I hope you get a good crop ! I love berries to but do not grow them. We get ours form local farmers here ! Blueberries are our fave ! Thanks for sharing . Have a berry of a day he he !

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  2. No orchard here, but your berries are sure making me smack my lips ~ love jelly.
    We do have one old apple tree that produced well this year.

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  3. Oh, I'm bonkers for berries, but this move has left me drained of inspiration...hoping it returns soon. Until then, I'll wait to see what you make with your harvest, XOXO

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  4. I love berries as well! We are getting a fall harvest of rasperries right now. Have yet to make jam with them since the littles gobble every single one before morning chores are even over!!;)

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  5. I love berries! This summer, we discovered that our red raspberries are apparently ever-bearing. :) :) Each day, Jenna picks them and brings them to me, asking "do we have enough yet?" I've been freezing them, and yesterday, made my first batch of jelly...delicious!

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  6. You've mentioned lots of berries there that I have never heard of!

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  7. Wow I wish I was at your house so many berries so many possibilities. I have a huge lot of pears I am trying to figure out what to do with them, I am sure I will. The fruit trees this year wild and tame are loaded it is a great year. Have fun I am drooling:) B

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  8. I love my berries. We keep planting rows of them. I don't know what I would do without them. I am a hoarder though, I put them in my freezer and count them like gold. They are the best for cobblers I think when the days are cold. They always taste of summer. The jam is pretty good too. Yours are lovely.

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  9. I'm sighing in envy over all of your berries! I don't have a single fruit/berry plant in my yard. I need to get on that!

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