Blackberries!

This one blackberry bush has been producing for about three weeks now. Just enough for a handful of berries every 5-7 days. This Triple Crown thornless variety has excellent flavor for us to enjoy.

 

We planted 4 last year and this bush has given us a taste of what could come in the years ahead. We added more Triple Crown, and then Chester, Navaho and Apache cultivars this spring to make two short rows. All are thornless which means it is easier to pick and easier for the critters to steal from us. The Apache is borderline for our planting zone, but we'll give it a try.

Raccoon and starlings have plundered this and another bush. They seem to know the perfect time that the berries are ripe and have gotten there ahead of us more than once. We added chicken wire to the defenses and now we have had a few berries of our own to eat.