Berry Extravaganza
June 23, 2013
When we moved into this house some years ago the only berries we had were the mulberries on the tree in the easement. Since then we have been working to increase the berries in our yard. Berries are a great high vitamin food and so delicious when super fresh and organic, too. The strawberries have slowed down a little, but we still are getting a some every day.
These are the berries I picked Wednesday afternoon. Mulberries, serviceberries, and strawberries. I had some rhubarb sauce that I heated up, added some berries and a little Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream. Wow! It was fantastic!
Regent Saskatoon Serviceberries on shrub. The berries on the Allegheny Serviceberry were all dried up this year for some reason, though they were good last year, but we have had a lot of berries on the Regent Saskatoon this year. I only pick them when they get to the purple stage. I have three of these bushes now, so a good crop.
The mulberries are a huge mess, so we have to be careful not to track them into the house. However if you want a lot of berries, there are tons on this tree and the birds love them. They are also adding nutrients to our compost pile on the left. I like to mix them in with other berries and only pick them when they are black and ready to drop from the branches. People in the neighborhood do some foraging on this tree, too.
Look at these beautiful berries on the Duke blueberry bush! These we eat sparingly, but each one is a burst of flavor. They go from green to pink to blue as they grow in size and ripen.
Forbidden fruit – my neighbor’s raspberries that are not yet ripe. My neighbor told me to help myself and does not seem interested in them, so I am excited as these are so luscious when very ripe.
Strawberry flower. This is on an older strawberry plant I have that is not very productive, but the pink flowers are so delicate.
Hydrangea Incrediball – Hydrangea Arborescens. Getting away from berries, I moved this hydrangea out of solid shade into partial shade. The flowers get huge so I anticipate them flopping over soon. It seems happy now. Catmint and lady’s mantle on the right. The tree is a chinquapin oak – quercus muehlenbergii.
Bee in catmint. Catmint walker’s low (nepeta) and lady’s mantle (alchemilla mollis.)
Pardon My Garden 
You’re way ahead of us on most of the berries. But our strawberries are coming on gangbusters. There’s no way you can buy anything like them in any store, or even pick-your-own, for that matter.
Are you freezing the excess? We just put them on trays in the freezer, and then seal them in bags for next winter.
Now, to keep the squirrels and birds off the blueberries and raspberries. The walnut trees, on the other hand, are a hopeless cause.
In the meantime, the birds are already singing praises to our Joe Pye weed. Do you hear them?
We have just been eating a lot as they come every day. None have been frozen. We will have to get more plants to be able to freeze them. Have not noticed the squirrels being a problem yet….
I’m impressed with your berry variety! I’m trying for the same thing here, but am not quite as far along as you. This year I’m getting a few handfuls of strawberries, blueberries and maybe a couple raspberries, next year I’m hoping for more! You’re absolutely right as to how delicious they are right out of the garden.
I know what you mean! It has taken me quite a few years to build up my strawberries. And then most of the fruit ripens at the same time, so I have to get it before the birds.
can you send a picture of the inside mulberries they look like blue berrys
The Mulberries look a little like blackberries and are often quite large. They turn from red/purple to a very dark black-like color. That’s when they are very sweet. They were in the yellow bowl in the picture above. The serviceberries look a bit like blueberries. They go from red to a dark purple color. I think the ones in the white bowl were still a bit red.