Fall Chores. Collecting Tree Leaves for Mulch. Blackberry Maintenance. 11.17.18

 This is a good time to collect tree leaves from around the neighborhood, for mulch and for compost if there are enough leaves.

During 2018, the leaf mulches helped a lot.  They keep the soil more moist, prevent most weeks from growing, cool the soil, and add to humus and nutrients.  Last year's mulch is almost completely degraded, so needs replacing.

I already mulched around many of the fruit trees.  This time, I cleaned up the blackberry bed and mulched that.

This year, I pulled out all of the Cascade Star blackberries.  They didn't produce enough, and they are more trouble, compared to Prime Ark Freedom and Triple Crown.  I also pulled out the Ebony King - way to thorny, not as productive, and the berries are not as good as PAF and TC.

That left Prime Ark Freedom, Ebony King, and two one-year-old Arapaho.  I'm not that impressed with Arapaho, but giving them another chance.  I did move one out of the main blackberry bed, and replaced that with a Prime Ark Freedom that was crowding the other two of that variety.  I also pruned them to about 6 feet tall, pruned out all of this year's floricanes (canes that already bore fruit and are dying off), and pulled the few weeds that are present.

Then I mulched with about 9 inches of loose maple and sweet gum leaves.  Those will flatten to a couple of inches, over the winter.  I repaired the trellises, and that's about all.  Now they are ready for winter and for next year.

Blackberries: Comparing Three Cultivars in the Pacific Northwest.

Prime Ark Freedom.  Harvested 7.13.18

 These are my three mature, producing blackberry plants.  I planted them in 2016.  Each had a taste last year, but this year are producing bowls full every day.

Prime Ark Freedom.
The largest berries of the three.  Bush-like, highly vigorous canes.  This is the floricane crop - the primocanes will be this fall.  Some people complain about the seeds.  I don't mind them.  Some people think Columbia Star has better flavor.  I like Prime Ark Freedom better.  Producing for about 5 days now.  Totally thornless.

Columbia Star.  Harvested 7.13.18

Columbia Star.  Producing for about 2 weeks now.  These are a little smaller than the first ones.  They are not as juicy as Prime Ark Freedom.  They need to ripen until they are falling off the plant, to get best flavor and sweetness.   Totally thornless.











Ebony King.  This is a very old cultivar.  The berries are smaller and rounder than the other two.  Just started producing.  I think not as productive as the other two.  On some days, I think the flavor is better than the others.  Today I think PAF won that contest.  I think, fewer seeds.  The thorns can be annoying.

I also have one-year-old "Arapaho" and "Triple Crown".  The "Triple Crown" is the most vigorous of those two, although maybe not as vigorous as "Prime Ark Freedom.".  They have a few berries from their first-year floricanes, not ripe yet.  Arapaho looks pretty vigorous, very tall growing.

All of my blackberries are in fenced beds now.  Thorns are there for a reason, and deer and rabbits are quick to discover the joys of thornlessness.  I also have bird nets, although so far birds have not been a big problem.

Of the producing berries, here are my favorites.

Flavor:  (1) Prime Ark Freedom.  (2) Ebony King.  (3) Columbia Star.

Convenience.  (1) Prime Ark Freedom.  (2) Columbia Star.  (3). Ebony King (mainly due to thorns).

Productivity.  (1)  Prime Ark Freedom.  (2)  Columbia Star.  (3).  Ebony King.

Vigor.  (1)  Prime Ark Freedom.  (2).  Columbia Star.  (3).  Ebony King.

Seediness.  I can't tell much difference.  Maybe PAF is more seedy, but it doesn't bother me.

Hardiness.   Too early to say.  PAF may not tolerate the coldest winters, at least in its first year from tissue culture.  Last winter the primocanes overwintered without problems.

Disease and inset infestation:  No problem with any of these, so far, even in ground that was cleared of Himalayan Blackberries the year


Of the two newer plants, I am prepared to really love Triple Crown.  I've read many rave reviews of that cultivar.  It will have a few berries this year, but for a fair test, I should compare them to the others when the plants are more mature next year.  Ditto for Arapaho, which I bought hoping for extended season.  As of now, both Triple Crown and Arapaho will give me a taste on the florcanes that grew last year, but the primocanes that grew this year dwarf last year's growth.  Even so, PAF is more vigorous, so far, than either of those.
It's very nice being able to pick blackberries and eat them by the handfulls, while out doing gardening and chores.  Most do not make it back to the kitchen, regardless of the cultivar.

Ebony King.  Harvested 7.13.18

Blackberry Progress Report. 5.20.16

Ebony King Blackberry, planted February 2016.  5.21.16

These are the domesticated blackberry plants that I planted a few months ago.  It has been interesting to watch them, and I have learned a few things.

First, the Ebony King.  These were packaged dry-root starts from Lowes.
The stems were about pencil size, with minimal roots, packed in peat moss.  I planted them Feb 21st.  Of the 3 plants, one started growing in about March, one in April, and one just began growing now in late May.  So they all are alive and growing, and there is some chance for a taste next year.  These are floricane varieties that bloom and bear on the previous year's canes.  It pays not to give up, since one of the plants required 3 months to start to grow.

I need to get some protection on these, from marauding rabbits and deer.  They have not eaten the Ebony King Blackberry plants yet, which are not as perfectly thornless as Prime Ark Freedom, but I don't  want to take too many chances.  Damn rabbits.   Damn deer.

Second, the Prime Ark Freedom, thornless primocane blackberries from Starks.  These were expensive, and the plants were tiny.  They are growing nicely now, with one exception that is failing to thrive and still only a couple of inches tall.  Tow of the most vigorous were eaten half-way off by rabbits or deer, so now I have fencing sleeves on each plant.  Herbivores have not been eating the Himalayan invasive blackberries - possibly due to thorns, or there could be protective flavors that are lost in domestication.  These are primocane, so could potentially bear this year.  They have bloomed at only a few inches tall, but I removed the flowers so their photosynthetic energy goes to establishing roots, canes, and leaves.

Growth on Ebony King Blackberry, at 3 months.  5.21.16

Prime Ark Freedom Blackberry Plant, Planted Feb 2016.  5.21.16

The third is one plant of Columbia Star blackberry, bought in a one-gallon container at Yard - And - Garden - Land here in Vancouver, I think in March.  The plant was really a tiny tissue culture plant like the Prime Ark Freedom, planted in larger container for sale, I suppose.  Or to grow larger in the nursery pot. The Columbia Star is growing with the same vigor as Prime Ark Freedom.  Columbia Star is a trailing blackberry that will beed some support.  I have already built a frame for that, using 6 foot long tree limb prunings.

Planting Blackberry Starts. 2.21.16

Prime-Ark Blackberry Starts.  2.21.16

The irony is not lost on me.  I'm still in the process of clearing massive blackberry bramble thickets.  After several hours of clearing them yesterday, I'm so sore I can barely move.

Then I buy blackberry plants.

The difference is, these are a compact growing variety, developing into a bush about 5 feet tall  and similar or less width.  Prime-Ark Blackberry, is a new hybrid from Arkansas, which I have not tried before.  They are a thornless variety.  So, I don't need to climb into 12 to 20 foot tall thickets, and come back bloodied, for the delicious blackberries.

I don't know if deer will eat them, not being deterred by thorns.  But the leaves seem coarse and unappetizing, so maybe not.

These are small plants.  They are going into the garden beds South of the house, for full sun.

I also bought 3 Ebony King Blackberry starts at Lowes, for variety.  Almost thornless.  I am hoping the timing will be a little different, for a longer blackberry season.  I love these fruits, and they also make an easy and delicious jam. Ebony King is almost thornless - at leas from the stems of these starts, no where near as vicious as the wild Himalayan Blackberries that I am striving to clear.

I read Prime-Ark needs to be 3-4 feet apart, or 5 feet apart, depending on who I read.  Mine are at the close end of that.   Some may need transplanting later.