May 26, 2005
More Gratuitous Domestic Posting - Garden Division
We have a plot of raspberry bushes out back, maybe 5 feet deep and about 35 feet long. The plants are completely self-sowing and produce a very large crop of berries if properly tended.
Proper tending generally means clearing away the deadwood once you're sure it's not going to bud for the season, as well as being vigilant against the weeds taking over, particularly the wild morning glory, which will overwhelm the whole area if not dealt with.
One of the many things I have to do this weekend is clean out the raspberry patch. Unfortunately, as you can see from this pic, their stems are covered with tiny thorns. They don't puncture like a rose because they're not big enough, but instead scrape and scratch.
I think I must be growing increasingly allergic to this. For the past couple years, the scraping hasn't bothered me at all. But last weekend I was out fiddling with the patch and got a couple of fresh ones on my forearms that I've been furiously scratching ever since because they itch so much. Indeed, I'm starting to look something like a heroin addict or an extremely inept self-cutter.
Worth it though - there's nothing like watching the Llama-ettes work their way down the line on a lazy summer afternoon, hoovering berries off the bushes (except, of course, managing to snag a few for myself).
I guess for YOU, "leaves of three, let them be" applies to raspberries as well as poison ivy.
;)
Posted by: JFH at May 26, 2005 02:34 PMI was going to say this even before I opened the comments and saw what the first visitor said. Those raspberry bushes sound like a gift from God. My Virginia back yard is home to poison ivy.
And a mulberry tree. When it is in fruit the entire yard is riddled with blue-white splatters from the birds. And if the atmosphere is hot and moist when the berries are ripe, they ferment. The back yard smells like a brewery, and drunken mourning doves and squirrels reel around together in a stupor.
Posted by: American Daughter at May 26, 2005 02:45 PMIsn't that what children are for? To work the fields while the adults live off the sweat of the kids' work.
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Posted by: lisa dergan at July 18, 2005 09:27 PM
