Michele - Fruits and Berries

The seeds are planted and sitting in the kitchen windows. There is a pretty good variety there, and I hope we have success in growing them. The spinach is the only thing that has sprouted so far. It's the seed that I wasn't going to plant, but my young daughter really wanted to, so we did. Funny how those things turn out!

As Jenn said, spring is sneaking up on us here. Last year, I took a fancy and decided that we needed more fruit trees and berry bushes here. To go along with the apple trees we planted a few years ago, we added some peach and pear trees. I have decided that apple trees are not the thing to plant around here. There are hanging in there, and half of them are still growing but they're struggling. The long, hot summers here are just hard on them. The peach and pear trees seem to be fairing better. I'm anxious to see what this year's growth will do to them. I also planted some pomegranates. This is pretty far north for them, but a friend in Dallas told me she was able to grow them there. With this winter being a little cooler than usual, I'm a little worried. I'll keep you posted. Let's see - my binge planting last spring also included grapes, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and pecans. The blackberries went wild and seem to be very happy. I planted the blueberries in a peat moss, compost mixture to get the soil acidic. They did ok. Not as happy as the blackberries, but they hung in there. I'm very glad to announce that half of them are already budding back out! The winter didn't bother them at all. I'll have to just wait and see on the other berries. I'm going to try to restrain myself this year and concentrate on keeping what I have healthy instead of adding to the plant menagerie around here.

By the way, I haven't pruned my roses in five years and it's high time I did. They look awful and I'm determined to chop them back this year and allow them to grow beautifully again.

Until next time, happy planting!