Container Gardening: Raspberries

(Raspberry plants at the end of April)

I have found that I don't do well when I get bare root raspberry plants. They are the ones that come in the small bag wrapped around a twig.

Hardier ones come in the pots with soil. Because they already have a good root system they do better in containers. They also start sprouting leaves sooner and yield raspberries faster.

I currently have 3 varieties: 2 normal red raspberries, 1 raspberry shortcake, and 1 black raspberry.

I was very skeptical at first of the raspberry shortcake because it was very expensive and there weren't any fruit on it the first year. It was a big investment for a plant that may or may not have lasted through the winter. However, I'm a believer now. The bushier raspberry plant in the picture above is the raspberry shortcake! It is bigger than even the raspberry plant that in it's 3rd year.

(Raspberry, Raspberry, Raspberry Shortcake, Gooseberry)

Growing Tips:

For container gardening, it's important to prune back the branches after they have fruited. Raspberries only fruit on 2 year old branches. This means that when  you are pruning, make sure to leave the hardier branches alone. 

My pruning trick is to prune back the thinner frailer branches, but to leave the longer stronger branches. 

Raspberries will look like they are dead over the winter. Don't, I repeat Don't prune them in the Spring. Give them time to figure themselves out. They will surprise you at how hardy they are :)

You can definitely can see the difference between the March and April pictures.

P.S. The red stuff on the soil is hot chilli powder to deter the racoons and cats ;)

(Raspberry Shortcake in the beginning of March)

(The 2 regular red raspberries)

(The 2 regular red raspberries)

(Black Raspberry)

mmmmMMMMmmm... Black Raspberries. One of the best things about growing your own fruit the new varieties you can find at the garden stores....

Happy Mother's Day

My mom works at a produce wholesaler. The best thing about this job is that she gets to try all kinds of new fruit ;)

I went over to her house a couple of years ago and she was excited to share her Korean Melon. I haven't ever seen this in the grocery stores until today!

Thanks Mom for always sharing your delicious and new fruit with me. Muah Muah.

Happy Mothers Day :)

P.S. Korean Melon is like an apple and a Honeydew mixed together. It's smaller than normal melons, and less sweet. It has a great crunch. You know when it's ready because when you squeeze it, it gives a little and is less hard.

 The apple is there for size reference

Blueberries: New Ones

The hoarding continues...

Every year I find that new varieties of everything come to the market. Last year it was the Raspberry Shortcake plant. This is a thornless raspberry plant that is almost like a shrub. (Yes, I convinced myself I needed to have this one to...)

This year the Jelly Bean Blueberry and Peach Sorbet Blueberry caught my eye. 

I finally got a harvest of the Pink Lemonade Blueberry last year and loved them. So this helped me convince myself that I needed these too. 

Look how cute! And they're Rory size because they are so short. 

Both of these trees have year around leaves that change  colour. The Peach Sorbet's leaves will turn purple in the winter... I'm so excited!

These plants are from Brazel Berries. Further description and care are on their website :)

 (Peach Sorbet Blueberries)

Container Gardening: Blueberries

I, BeesintheGardens, am a hoarder of blueberry plants. I currently have 13 blueberry plants on my patio, ranging in sizes. When I see a new variety, I force the people around me to help me justify bringing them home. Reason have ranged from "But... It's so cute" to "I don't have this one yet, my other blueberries told me they want this new variety as their new friend" to "I must, I must, I must save this blueberry plant from the awful conditions it's currently in and give it a better home."

The first step in getting better is admitting your addiction.

Ror loves blueberries too. Whenever she's on our patio she goes up to them and sniffs around to see if there are any for her yet. This is why I think it's okay to keep adding new ones? This might just be another excuse to add more, and more, and more, and more.... blueberries...

I'm an avid believer that what you grow, you should share. I love sharing my harvests with my co-workers, neighbours, and friends. However, if you are one of these groups of people you may have noticed you have never receive any blueberries.

This is my second problem. I hoard the plants and the berries... Ror only gets some because she looks up at me with those cute big eyes and it's hard to say no.

Here are some tips I've learned along the way:

I have found that Blueberries love love love coffee grounds. They thrive on it.

You also need blueberry friend plants because blueberries don't like being alone. The friend plants cannot be of the same variety because blueberries will have a greater yield when you give it 3 or more varieties to cross pollinate with.

Don't forget to plant bee friendly plants to lure the bees to your garden.

I'm Obsessed with The Amazing Race

(Photo from Wikipedia)

I'm not going to lie, I'm totally obsessed with The Amazing Race. This season brought back some of my favourite contestants. I'm rooting for Dave and Connor, the father son team. I think it's so cute how they have the same smile. I love that they are both kind and vindictive. If I'm ever on this show (probably not because I'm not American) I definitely will never u-turn anyone.

I hate surprises and usually wait till the live season is over so I can follow along with the wiki results. But those cowboys lured me in and I broke down and started to watch :)

How heartbroken are you that the cowboys are out? I was in so much shock that my mouth dropped open for a full minute before I was able to regain my composure.

p.s. the gardens in the backgrounds are so beautiful. I definitely am taking notice ;)

Flowers to Lure Bees to Your Garden

(photo credit: from Serenity, diy's tumbler)

A lovely friend shared this with me on facebook. I love how cute and organized it is.

Bees are so important to gardening. They help to cross pollinate, which then helps plant to grow delicious fruit.

Hope you love it as much as I do. 

Rory Lately...

  (left before, right after)

From Full Fur, to No Fur

Rory got a hair cut!

Container Gardening: Fig Trees

(These are pictures from right after I planted the trees)

Figggggg Trees

My mom has multiple fig trees in her garden. Every year when the fig are ready to pick she dehydrates them and shares. This is one of the best times of the year.

This tree came already in soil. I added a banana (for potassium), egg shells (for calcium and irrigation), and coffee grounds (for nitrogen) to the garden soil. Other than that I put it in it's new pot home and watered it constantly.

Later in the season, an important step is to add netting to the tree. This will save you from fighting birds for the fruit ;)
Can wait to munch on some figs later in the summer...

Fun Fact: Fig Trees fruit on 2 year old branches.

Fun Fact 2: Fig Trees planted in the ground will create runner trees. Then you'll have a forrest of fig trees.

(This is after a couple of weeks, look at those beautiful leaves and tiny baby figs)

Container Gardening : Chrimson Gala Apples

(This is after I followed the below steps)

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
Gala apples I love you

Gardening can be very precise. I can get overly excited at times, so this precision doesn't always get executed. In my research for container gardening for fruit trees there were a lot of steps where you had to do exactly what they said. I took this as suggestions, rather than hard facts. Hopefully this delinquency works in my favour...

This is what I did, only time will tell if these were the right steps. I'm optimistic because I've always done things a little differently when it comes to gardening.

One: soak the bare root tree in water for 4-6 hours

Two: add soil to the container and place the tree into the pot. If you have a grafted tree, make sure the grafted part is above the soil line.

Three: Trim back the branches by a third. Make sure there is one leader branch and a couple of smaller branches below the leader branch.

Four: Water, water, water. Make sure the tree is continually moist. As September approaches reduce the water to once a week so the tree can start winterizing.

Five: I use the seaweed fertiliser and coffee grounds. In the summer I do this once a week. As the summer ends, I cut this back so plants can winterize.

I guess my imprecision is working because the branches are growing :)

Six: Add something to the top layer of the soil to keep it moist. You could add mulch, burlap, I chose this succulent ground cover plants that I found at Home Depot. 

Fun Fact: Fruit trees need friend trees so that bees can cross pollinate. I only have one this year, but hopefully when plants go on sale at the end of the season I'll get another. 

Garden Happenings in April

Gardening is like a slow moving art piece. Over the season you start to see the performance unfold and the beauty take place.

Here are the things I'm doing in April:

1. Digging out weeds and preparing for the new veggie garden

2. Folding in Coffee Grounds and new soil into the garden

3. Placing the bamboo/stake infrastructure to hold up the veggie vines

4. Planting carrot, beets, tomatoes, and pea seeds.

I have found that things almost never go as planned. I'm still looking for some space to plant zucchini and eggplant.  Maybe, just maybe I was a little over zealous with the carrot seeds. ;)

Wait a minute, a plan is forming... once the peas have been harvested I'll replant them in half the space leaving room for zucchini! Bing! Problem one solved, now for the egg plant. Where shall I put you? A problem for future Bee to solve :)

(the burlap at the entrance is to help me not track dirt past the entry way of my garden)

(egg shells surround my tomato plants to help ward off slugs and to give them calcium) 

(sturdy steaks and bird netting surround my garden to keep out the cute neighbourhood cats)