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Berries

Standard strawberries are too labor-intensive for me. But there is an alternative: day-neutral strawberries. These are what the big berry growers in California plant because they produce well the year they are planted and they are not daylight length-sensitive. They produce some berries all summer long instead of just producing a huge crop in June. In fact, September is a great month for them. I've grown Tristar, which I got from Johhny's Seeds (207-861-3901). It's too late to plant this year - you need to order them in March or early April.

Raspberries come in many varieties - red, black, gold and even thornless. If you like raspberries, you should grow your own. They are frightfully expensive at the grocery store, and don't keep well. I like them best in the early morning, right off the bush. They have two flaws, however. First, they tend to become less productive after 5 years or so, as they inevitably pick up viruses. There is no cure for the viruses other than to start over on a different piece of ground.

Second, raspberries attract Japanese beetles. If you have a beetle problem, select cultivars that produce in the fall on first year canes (instead of in July on second year canes). Heritage, Autumn Bliss and Redwing are three varieties that produce in the fall. By the time they are ripe, the Japanese beetles will be gone.

Blueberries are easy to grow - if you keep the soil acidic enough, and keep the weeds and grasses away from them. The blueberries like the soil in the pH range of 4.5 to 5.5, which is very acidic. Although you can add elemental sulfur - approved for organic growers - the best thing to do is add an organic slow release acid fertilizer like Pro-Holly or Holly-Tone. That needs to happen in June, right after they bloom. Adding fertilizer in the late summer or fall only encourages late growth which might get damaged by low temperatures and winter winds. You generally can't fix the pH in one year, so check it every year, and keep working on it. Mulching with pine needles or pine bark to keep down the weeds is good and helps the pH a little. You can add sulfur anytime.

Our blackberries are bountiful this year. The bushes are loaded with berries, perhaps because we had a mild winter - extra cold winters can burn the flower buds and ruin the crop. All the rain has been good for them, too. I do worry about fungal diseases this year because of the rain and humidity. There is a disease that dries up the berries and turns the canes brown, probably a fungus. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my crop is not affected as there is not much else I can do.

Currants and Gooseberries are old-fashioned fruits little grown anymore, which is a shame. Part of the problem is that they are hosts for the white pine blister rust, a fungal disease that can kill pine trees. Growing them is restricted in New Hampshire and Maine, though not in Vermont. There are now several disease-resistant varieties that are legal to plant in New Hampshire -with a permit from Division of Forests and Lands (603-271-7858).

The only disease resistant gooseberry (approved in NH) is Jahns Prairie; acceptable black currants are Titania, Consort, Crusader and Coronet; Red currants include Viking, Johnkeer van Tets, Rolan and Rubina. According to Lewis Hill of Greensboro, VT and the author of the excellent book, "Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden" (Storey Books, 1992), a gooseberry pie is the best of all pies. I'm yet to taste one, but Lewis' wife Nancy has promised me a slice. Unfortunately, gooseberries came early this year, and I missed my chance - until next year.

The last berries of the season are sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides). NOT related to the invasive buckthorns (Rhamnus spp.), these bright orange berries ripen in October, and are best picked after frost. Originally from Siberia, these plants are hardy to minus 50 degrees. They are highly acidic, but make a good orange juice substitute - if you add enough sugar. I've had 5 bushes growing for 3 years, and hope to get berries this year.

If you want to try sea buckthorn or other unusual berries Hill recommends Whitman Farms (503-585-8728) or Green World (503-651-3005). Local garden centers usually have a good selection of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

My grandfather grew gooseberries 50 years ago, and I think I should, too. Mail order plants are sold bareroot in April and May, but I'm going to prepare now - I'll send away for a state permit. I'm already thinking about gooseberry pies.

Henry Homeyer is the VT/NH associate editor of "People, Places and Plants" magazine. Write him at gardening.guy@valley.net or P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, N.H. 03746.