We have a wild black raspberry patch growing near a fence between the main yard and the old orchard from the previous owners. Pretty sure this patch is courtesy of birds pooping the seeds here. It's not in the best location, and as you will read farther down, there are other issues which make me want to move it. I have not had a chance yet to dig up some of the shoots to transplant, but hope to get to that this year.

Yesterday I picked my first wild black raspberries. This is a pint or so. They are delicious! Plenty more where that came from, too. It's soooo hot right now and the heat makes me weak and faint, but I hope to get out there early morning when it's still less than 85 degrees F.

This is the patch before winter was over. We basically only had about a week or two of spring. This was during that week. I tried taking cuttings but must not have done it right because none of them made it.

From the fence with the black raspberries looking west towards the preexisting orchard. On the left is one type of apple tree. Next to it on the right is another type of apple tree. We don't know what they are. On the far right of the picture is a native wild Black Walnut tree, which is loaded this year.

A good picture of the overall patch. It was just one cane a couple of years ago. We really want to remove this fence, as it's in our way. Makes mowing hard. Plus, we want to relocate this patch, cut down a huge maple tree to give us more room to plant our food forest and have a lot of logs for hügelkultur and mulch for the food forest. It has to go, anyway, because it's growing through the power line which isn't so good when the tornado season rolls around.

Close up of the baby berries soon after the flowers fell. This patch is in an area of the property we don't go so often, so I have to remind myself to go check. I'm glad I did because I might have missed the ripening. Especially with this year's really strange and unseasonably hot, abrupt, weather changes.

This is looking east to the yard. It's not so easy to see, but those little areas with light brown are where the new trees for our food forest are planted. I've been too preoccupied with other things to do any update posts on that, but I will. I'm not sure which tree this is at the fence, but it's growing right in the patch. Thanks birds! lol

Ope! Better watch out! The super duper sad thing for me about this wild raspberry patch is that, as you can see, there is poison ivy growing through parts of it.

Now, although poison ivy is pretty distinct looking, likewise with raspberry, it really really sucks because they look similar enough that it's a big effort to look very close so as not to touch or grab the leaves.

I won't say that I don't think poison ivy is pretty. It's an attractive plant. It's native to Missouri so is good for the environment and ecosystem here. Many people are not allergic to it. I am not one of those people. It was really hard picking those berries as I had to go very slow and look extra close. I'm leaving the birds the ones that are anywhere near the fence or leaves or could blow around and touch the poison ivy. Of course, those are the best looking berries. LOL

I really love this picture because this new shoot is so beautiful and serene as it's blowing in the wind. If I'm going to transplant and relocate, like I'd prefer to do, now would be the time. There are tons of shoots. The great thing about this one is there is no poison ivy near it. I really don't want to dig up shoots that have been touching or the roots growing together with the poison ivy. The berries should be fine but the oils will stay on the brambles and roots it touches. I would have dug these up earlier when they first started coming up but was too overwhelmed with getting the new fruit and nut trees in. Then it's like an inferno door was opened and blasted a ton of heat on the midwest that doesn't seem to be going away. It's been in the upper 80s to mid 90s for weeks now. WAHHH I wanted a spring. Boo Hoo!

Here's another picture because I liked how it came out with my little knickknack rack.

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ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT 2018 BY ME, @phedizzle. Hope you enjoyed them!

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I love when nature provides free food! Looking forward to picking more berries. I'd love to make cobbler or berry butter if I can get enough this year. Anyhow, that's all for now. If you enjoyed this, please consider upvoting, resteeming, commenting, and following. Until the next post, take care.

Here are previous posts of mine:

STORIES:

BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: EXPOSING MY ROOTS (introduction post)
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: Chapter 1
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: FAMILY OWNED: Chapter 1 Section 2
BAREFOOT IN THE BOONIES: ABANDONED BASEMENT: Chapter 1 Section 2

2011 GARDEN:

2011: DESIGN AND BUILD
2011 BACKYARD TRELLIS, PERIMETER, & VOLUNTEER
2011 TIRE PORTION OF THE GARDEN
2011 BRASSICAS-TIRE GARDEN
2011 DWARF ORCHARD

RECIPES:

SANTA DELIVERED SHROOMS-SHITAKE OYSTER SCRAMBLE
SWEET CINNAMON POPCORN
MOCK ALMOND JOY--CHEAPER AND HEALTHIER
HANGRY TERIYAKI
RASHES--WHY I SWITCHED TO THIS COMMON DIY LAUNDRY SOAP AND HOW I MAKE IT
SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH FORAGED FINDS: FIRST FOOD FORAGE OF 2018

POEMS:

WATCHING THE SPRING WAKE UP
SHE IS DYING
WEEPING WILLOW

PLANTS AND ANIMALS-EDUCATIONAL:

GRASS IS OUR FRIEND
LITTLE BLUESTEM--BENEFICIAL AND BEAUTIFUL
BEHOLD THE BEAUTY OF THE FALSE INDIGO BUSH

WALK ALONG WITH ME:

WALK ALONG WITH ME 1
WALK ALONG WITH ME 2--WINTER 2017/2018

2018:

WILD TURKEY TAIL AND REISHI MUSHROOMS
HUGELKULTUR BED STARTED BUT THERE IS A LOGISTICAL OBSTACLE.
2018 CURRENT HAPPENINGS: FOOD FOREST EXPANSION
WILD EDIBLES AROUND THE HOMESTEAD
GRANNY SMITH APPLE FINALLY GOT SOME LOVE

CONTESTS/REVIEWS

Chronic and Coffee MSP Review--25 SBD contest for the best MSPWAVES Radio Reviews
VOICES FROM THE MOUNTAINS Review--25 SBD contest for the best MSPWAVES Radio Reviews

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(Created by @bembelmaniac)

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(Created by @soulturtle)

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So come say hello in the following Discord chat rooms:

#homesteadersonline: https://discord.gg/VKCrWsS
@qurator: https://discord.gg/pJtWp57M
#minnowsupport & #PAL: https://discord.gg/B4ZjGBa