...apparently more than one man can eat. So I suggested that The Frenchman freeze the berries, and I'll whip something up when I return to Brooklyn. The man loves a fool.
You know: whipped cream and fruit. But he did marry me...
I am really happy about that blueberry bush's performance. I was worried about cross pollination (two cultivars are best for good fruit), as my neighbour Danielle's shrub was ailing. But apparently the bumble bees were successful. Maybe there are others in the hood? Last year the bush was straggly, with old wood, gangly limbs, and small berries, so the cutting-back in summer produced nice new growth, upon which the next crop forms. Add a pound of fresh coffee as mulch (to increase acidity - and I repeat, ad nauseum, that used coffee grounds are no good: their pH is practically neutral) and organic rose fertilizer (!)...happy blueberries.
Very sorry to be missing the black raspberry. What a pretty little tart its fruit would have made.
Alpine strawberries, freshly watered by the novice gardener. Growing in a muggy New York summer.
I have always loved fruit, and growing even these potfuls thrills me. Virtually, for now.
that "novice gardener" is doing pretty well, i'd say! Those blueberries are looking amazing. My parents grow a giant bush of them in Pennsylvania and i can't wait to go down and pick huge tubs of them.
ReplyDeleteThings are looking good up on the roof and the Frenchman's photo's are utterly delicious! I'm sure NYC is missing you!
ReplyDeleteYour novice gardener must have some beginner's luck. The fruits are looking gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteHe's very conscientious. But Vince has been back in NYC for a week, and the path to berries is a long one, staraing sometimes before flowers :-) Thanks to Vince everything stayed alive for four very hot weeks while we were away, after he installed a soaker hose. Neither of our cat/garden sitters was able to reach the roof (not that I was expecting anyone to tend the farm), so the soaker allowed them to turn the hose on every day.
DeleteYou grew these delicious fruits on the roof! Did you use big pots for that?
ReplyDeleteYes. I am guessing, but I think the pot is 20-22" in diameter and as deep. They do well in pots, especially as you can control the pH well.
DeleteJealousy is not a pretty emotion, and boy do i have lots of it! The blueberries look wonderful!' I cut mine way back in the spring and now have vigorous growth, but when does it want its coffee?
ReplyDeleteI'd get the frenchman to freeze blackberries, too. We had extra berries this week, so i crushed black, blue and rasp together with half a cup sugar, 1 tea lemon juice and a T of flour. Lined a pie pan with foil and froze. Now i have two pie filings ready to pop into crust later when they are no longer available. I bet Frenchie could follow that recipe.
Oh, Marie. You're killing me with the knowledge that all that fruit is just 40 feet up in the air. Walked down your street over the weekend. We're headed to Fort Greene, but will keep checking in here to see how things are in what will always be my first neighborhood in Brooklyn. Enjoy your trip. Travel safely.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen blueberry bushes so lush with fruit. I have three small bushes that have not produced fruit for several years, since they were first planted. Now I know what to do for next year. Did you mulch with Cafe Bustelo? I assume not Illy. Do you know if your plants are highbush or lowbush?
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