I don't usually let anyone help me with pruning, partly because I'm a control freak but mostly because I'm still feeling my way along and don't feel comfortable enough giving instruction.  The raspberries and blackberries are pretty straightforward, though, and B.J. picked up my pruning method astonishingly quickly Monday.  (Yes, he is shaping up to be indispensible.  No, you can't have him.)

Last year, the brush pile full of pruned-off branches did okay in the middle of the forest garden, so I decided to repeat the experiment.  The previous pile had sunk down to where it was only a few feet tall, so this year's prunings didn't really raise the height up beyond the previous levels.  Hopefully my work eradicating weeds growing up through the pile last summer will make the area semi-weed-free this year, and last year's cuttings should be rotten enough by now that the nearby apple roots can take advantage of the compost.

Here's the finished product --- blackberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, and kiwis are now all pruned.  They look a bit like shorn sheep against the snow, but I've found that heavy pruning is entirely worthwhile with brambles.  You get huge, delicious fruits that are easy to pick, so you eat more of them.

Plus, it's just fun out to be out in the garden in early February, watching the daffodil leaves poke up through the snow and the song sparrows flit about.  Pruning week is one of my favorite times of the year, so I'm glad I've still got all the fruit trees to go.  Now, if I can just learn to wear gloves so I don't have to bite thorns out of the pads of my fingers all week....

Want more in-depth information? Browse through our books.

Or explore more posts by date or by subject.

About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.

Powered by Branchable Wiki Hosting.