Pulling Raspberries

* an old post I found that didn't get posted . . .

Today, while the kids were napping - and after mine, I took a walk with Ethan down towards the woods. He was going to take down some temporary fence, and I was going to get some fresh air and just spend some time with him.

We are in the middle of the spring thaw right now, and we just got another 4-5 inches of snow over the weekend. With the cooler temps from the recent snow, I decided to put on my fleece lined jeans and also my winter boots.

I'm glad I did! Not only for the soppy pasture, but for raspberries!

When we got to the bottom of the hill, I noticed that where he was pulling fence was also where a mini ravine is. Although these ravines frustrate me with the fact that they are eating away at our pasture, I also love them. I love them because they are the only place I have found black raspberries to grow on our farm.

The first summer we owned our place, I hopped into our biggest ravine to pick the berries. I was 6-7 months pregnant at the time, but if you know me you know I love berries. So I got my berries but decided that I didn't really want to crawl into the ravine anymore - and not because I was pregnant.

With the multiple mad outbreaks of poison ivy I have had here, I have also decided that hanging out along fence lines and timber lines isn't the best idea. Even if it is to get berries. So what's a girl to do?

Well, last fall I hopped back into the ravine and dug up some berries to move to by the house. Unfortunately, the rabbits knew what was coming this winter and went on a early rampage of chewing off vines and fruit trees. (Even the master gardeners commented on the rabbits' early destructive activity.) In an effort to save my fruit trees (which I did), I didn't get around to protecting my transplanted berry plants before most of them had been nipped off.

Which leads me to today. And to the mini ravine I started talking about. When I saw it I was excited to see that it held quite a few black raspberry plants. I was almost equally excited that I wore my heavy boots and flannel lined jeans.

So as Ethan was rounding up fence I was down in the ravine pulling thorny raspberry plants, which pull quite nicely in ravines. (If the end of the vine touches a wet spot, it will start to root. Just pull this end out since the roots aren't very established, and break it off from the mature end.)

I was quite happy to get 20 or so rooted vines. Not really enough to fill buckets with berries, but enough to replant and start my black raspberry patch and get some berries to nibble on while avoiding ravines and poison ivy. At the moment, my vines are healed in by the house. I hope to plant them within the next week or so.

Also, by the way, I did have a nice time visiting with Ethan too. One of the things we talked about was getting sheep.