Blackberries and Raspberries.
The plants to the right of the gate (as you are walking in) are raspberries. They fruit on annual canes and should be cut back to knee height each year (this has been done already) – this has worked for City Farm for a very long time. When cut back over the winter to knee height they will fruit twice – once in the late spring early summer and once again in the late summer early fall. (YAY!)
The plants to the left are Blackberries fruit on 2nd year canes. This mean that all the new growth this year will bear fruit next summer – usually in July/August. They are most easily pruned in the spring when the obvious now 2nd year canes have greened up and leaved out, while the old 2nd year canes are dead and brown.
Both Raspberries and Blackberries expand through runners, you’ll notice lots of raspberries in the paths and now plots, for this reason I don’t recommend people plant them in their own plots because they are so “invasive”. The runners can be dug up and transplanted elsewhere. Some plants we planted on the parking lot side of the fence have finally taken root (or at least the lawn mowers
haven’t cut them down yet) ad so we should have even more raspberries this year.
Remember: raspberries & blackberries bruise very easily and do not fare well on bumpy rides home. They are best eaten right off the bramble, transported carefully or made into jam.
Thank you Thom & Joel for taking such great care of them.