digitS'
Garden Master
Wild blackberries, huh?
In southern Oregon, we pulled them out of our upper pasture with the tractor and a chain. On the California coast, there was a creek along one side of our property. It was hand-to-hand combat to keep the vines out of our backyard. The creek disappeared into a blackberry jungle. I think there may have been a couple of rusting DeSoto's in there, too .
Now that I live 300 miles east of salt water and about 2 zones colder - there are some wild blackberry vines . . . here, and there. Maybe every few miles out in the country there will be a little 5 foot vine trailing along the ground. Bird probably carried a seed inland.
I commented on one to a neighbor the other day. A wild blackberry had shown up along his rock pile. He said he'd just noticed it there and had another volunteer vine "malingering" down in his fruit orchard. That was his choice of words.
The vines never make fruit . . . at least, I never notice any worth bothering with. They are outside their natural environment here. I don't know if that would be true in Minnesota.
Blackberries do grow in some folks gardens altho' they have some trouble with the subzero weather. And, these are respectable creatures - no thorns!!
The Doyle variety is grown by one gardening friend. They make real nice berries. Maybe not quite the same as what I grew up with but at least they produce.
Steve
In southern Oregon, we pulled them out of our upper pasture with the tractor and a chain. On the California coast, there was a creek along one side of our property. It was hand-to-hand combat to keep the vines out of our backyard. The creek disappeared into a blackberry jungle. I think there may have been a couple of rusting DeSoto's in there, too .
Now that I live 300 miles east of salt water and about 2 zones colder - there are some wild blackberry vines . . . here, and there. Maybe every few miles out in the country there will be a little 5 foot vine trailing along the ground. Bird probably carried a seed inland.
I commented on one to a neighbor the other day. A wild blackberry had shown up along his rock pile. He said he'd just noticed it there and had another volunteer vine "malingering" down in his fruit orchard. That was his choice of words.
The vines never make fruit . . . at least, I never notice any worth bothering with. They are outside their natural environment here. I don't know if that would be true in Minnesota.
Blackberries do grow in some folks gardens altho' they have some trouble with the subzero weather. And, these are respectable creatures - no thorns!!
The Doyle variety is grown by one gardening friend. They make real nice berries. Maybe not quite the same as what I grew up with but at least they produce.
Steve