Raspberries..And Not Enough Else

The title is somewhat misleading. I did get the raspberry plants into the ground, but as tomorrow is the start of Women's Conference (yea!) and I will be effectively out of commission for two days, I didn't get everything I needed to for Thursday and Friday done. Oh well. I'm sure the list is not going anywhere. Most of the regular Wednesday stuff wriggled it's way in somehow. It has been strange to spend the day before Women's Conference planting raspberries and grocery shopping instead of driving, but that's another story for another day.

The raspberry plants came to me as 5 or 6 foot long sticks with a few leaves. The man who gave them to me said to plant them, cut them down to 18 inches, and fertilize next fall. I like that- short, easy, and all things I understand and, better yet, know how to do. Especially the "not" fertilizaing part. I can "not fertilize" really well. So, here are our raspberry sticks. I had 6 plants, but two were stuck together so well that I just planted them in the same hole. Good thing, too, be cause I was getting tired of digging. (The cute legs and shadows you see are the kiddos who live next door. There are three- twins almost 4 and another 2-1/2 year old. They are true boys and love all things to do with tools and dirt. We are becoming good friends this week. I can finally tell them apart!)



The idea is to grow a raspberry hedge along the side of the house. We'll see. I know, you can't see the sticks in the pictures. So here's the double stick up close.

They look eerily similar to, but should not be confused with, the cocktail fruit tree stick I planted last fall. It is still standing and is still firmly attached to the ground, so I hope that means it (and the raspberries) will eventually do something besides be a stick. (Thanks you dear-next-door-neighbor for mowing our yard right before I came out to take pictures. Otherwise, there would be lots and lots of pretty dandelions included!)


As a prize for making it to the end of this post, you get a free bit of trivia. If you didn't already know it, you've learned something new and get a free trip to bed early. Knowledge and extra sleep. Double bonus. Now, for the trivia- according to George W. Dickerson at the New Mexico State University Extension, there several colors of raspberries, including black. There is a simple way to tell the difference between raspberries and blackberries. The cores of a raspberry, when harvested, stays attached to the stem. The cores of harvested blackberries become part of the edible fruit. Sleep well! (I know I will.)