So close. . .
And yet so totally out of reach. . .
Realization Of The Day:
I really, really, really should have put "Tame Raspberry Jungle" higher on my spring Garden Priority List. But there may be hope for all those buried berries. . .
This morning Cary decided that she is going to munch a path through the jungle for me and has spent hours furiously chomping away at those brambles.
There is also an added bonus to this briar buffet: according to the wonderful book, Rosemary Gladstar's Family Herbal: A Guide to Living Life with Energy, Health, and Vitality, "Raspberry leaf is a highly nourishing reproductive tonic, providing nutrients that tone and strengthen the genitourinary system. It is incredibly rich in iron and is also a good source of niacin and manganese, a trace mineral used by the body to produce healthy connective tissue suich as bone matrix and cartilage." It is also "a rich source of other vitamins and minerals including calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamins B, C, and E." Wow. Remind me to make some raspberry leaf tea.
Less Than A Week Ago The Weed Eater Was Working Perfectly
This kind of makes up for her other new love--my Nero di Toscana cabbage! Cary used to be perfectly content nibbling on (mostly) weeds in and around the raised beds, but lately she has developed quite a palate for people food (besides the arugula flowers)--and she is one fast eater, let me tell you. Yesterday I covered my precious cabbage with a piece of row cover fabric, but this morning (before she started in on the raspberries), I caught her trying to lift it off with her little nose. She even managed a quick bite before I shooed her away. (If I'd been watering at the time--which I don't have to do today because it finally rained, woohoo!--I would have simply applied the Lamb Away tactic I recently discovered: a quick spray with the garden hose. Works like a charm, although more than one application is sometimes necessary.*) Just when you thought something was finally safe from the deer and the rabbit and the absentminded gardener. . .
Lucky Buddy Bear
Realization #2:
All talk of berry harvesting aside, the raspberry jungle does serve another purpose quite nicely--as a shady retreat from the summer sun. It's always to see multi-tasking going on in the garden.
*This action in no way constitutes child abuse. Cary is 100% waterproof (and shrinkproof).
That's some bramble patch you have there.
ReplyDeleteYes. Taming the raspberry jungle is tricky. This year, I finally re-located. That is, I started a new, narrow row which I hope eventually will replace the wide row I mistakenly planted as a newbie gardener 10 years ago. Meantime, the original jungle grows on.
ReplyDeleteI love raspberry leaf tea and its super good for pregnancy!! I think that I will make some right now. Cary sure is smart, what a cutie pie... Hope all is well,
ReplyDeleteRiana in France
ps I found an old ruin of a house with a garden full of fruit trees for sale, but my husband said no. shucks.
My mum always used raspberry leaf tea in the last three months of pregnancy to ensure an easy birth. She had seven of us.....really easily.....except for number three. That tine she couldn't afford the tea so didn't take it!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBTW she always advised others not to use it before 6 months as it could cause miscarriage.
Likely, you should spray the kids with the hose as well. I am jelous of your raspberries. I planted some heritage raspberries and within a year they were overtaken by a sour wild blackberry that is pervasive around here.
ReplyDeleteI've never had a raspberry patch/bush/shrub/metropolis, but I have always had blackberry bushes. And if raspberry bushes are anything like blackberry bushes, you might as well start up the hedge trimmer and keep going until you see daylight. Ours ran all the way down my folks' long driveway and had to be hacked back every year lest we be marooned in the garage.
ReplyDeleteWow I really did have a busy week. I actually missed some Cary photos. Timeto slow down!
ReplyDelete