With our recent bouts of rain, cold, rain, snow, and more rain, almost nothing seems further away than ripe berries eaten straight off the vine. If I close my eyes, I can almost envision that glorious day...sun-warmed juice staining my fingers. That is, if we keep the wild rabbits from gnawing down more berry canes and bushes.
Some of the bounty from 2020
When we first moved here to the Boistfort Valley, we were blessed with a booming garden. Included were a raised bed filled with strawberries, a couple blueberry bushes, and a patch of raspberries and marionberries (see bottom of post for less common berry descriptions). Right away we added one more blueberry. Then last spring a couple more strawberry plants. In early fall, I placed an order with Burnt Ridge Nursery (I wrote an article about this awesome local business here). In addition to a couple apples and a pine nut tree, we brought home two mulberry trees, one boysenberry plant, two huckleberries, and winner, winner, chicken dinner...three pink lemonade blueberries.
I wanted to purchase more pink lemonades but stock was low. Bryon and I discovered this variety by chance at our preferred nursery back in San Leandro. We planted it a couple years into our gardening endeavors, and it quickly became our favorite blueberry for its beautiful hue and complex flavor. It was also coveted by our very first chicken flock—they would watch in anticipation whenever we picked the delicate morsels.
We prepared a plot in the Star & Sparrow garden for our new fruity friends, filling it with homemade compost and adding organic soil. Meanwhile, I planted the boysenberry nearby, and other berries outside the fenced garden area. Imagine my dismay a week or two later, when I discovered the boysenberry eaten down to almost nothing, and several attacks on the pink lemonade and other blueberries. Having seen at least one plump rabbit in the vicinity, on which Bryon had unsuccessfully attempted to try out his hunting license, we were 99% certain of the culprit. So we added protection around the plants and borrowed a trap from some friends. Weeks later, and the piece of carrot still remains untouched inside the trap.
Attempts to keep Peter Rabbit and the gang away from the blueberries
Meanwhile, we have new berries to get into the ground: golden and other raspberries, thornless blackberry, a couple types of gooseberry, currants, and a serviceberry. And I would like to partake in all of them. Now that we’re taking the new puppy for potty breaks at least a dozen times daily, and with KiKi probably moving back outside soon, I’m praying the rabbits might actually stay away.
Get to Know the Berries
Marionberry: tasty cross between two types of blackberry. I have a kinship with this one, as my first name is Marion.
Boysenberry: cross between raspberry, blackberry, and loganberry. And maybe dewberry, there is some debate. Long, purplish fruit, excellent flavor. Having only one jar of jam left = danger!
Mulberry: fast-growing trees that produce nutritious, sweet-tart fruit. Let’s hope they don’t attract weasels…or monkeys, for that matter.
Huckleberry: similar to blueberry, usually grows wild in Pacific NW. I discovered the joys of huckleberry while living in Montana. Makes for amazing ice cream, but not that kind with the swirl...I’m talking full-on huckleberry.
Gooseberry: in the currant family, often picked early while still sour for culinary use. Our first harvest will be my first taste, but contestants on the Great British Baking Show seem to like them, so I have high hopes.
Serviceberry: a brand new one for me! This large shrub is sometimes called juneberry. I can’t wait for the berries to appear, as Mother Earth News claims the purple-red berry “makes for some magical eating.”