New Hampshire – Page 17 – New England's Narrow Road

Blackberry Brambles Are a Real Pain

flowering blackberry bush — Battling the Blackberries

Pretty little white flowers mean blackberries will be growing soon. I hate them.
Blackberry bushes, or blackberry brambles, cover the sloping area of my backyard and I spent most of last Fall pruning and pulling them up to make room for my garden. My backyard is tiny and they are the last think I need causing me trouble, but they aren’t easy to get rid of with their very thorny stems. They can easily take over with runners underground and as they grow throughout the summer their tall, spiky branches hang over my tomatoes and other crops.

I don’t like the plants and I don’t like the berries. The only seed-filled berries I like are raspberries and I can stomach the black raspberries, but not these (yes, they are different). I have bunches of raspberry plants too, and I wish they produced more berries, but I don’t think they get enough sun. Someone must have planted them years ago and now they are stuck back in the shade.

I don’t like the taste or the looks of the blackberry plant. I guess I should pick whatever the chipmunks don’t eat and give them away -once they have fruit. Then I’ll get out my clippers and chop them down as they stick me with their thorns…ugh.

Blackberry Pruning – How to Trim Blackberry Bushes (johnspagarden.wordpress.com)
Berry Recipes – Strawberries, Raspberries & More! (berries.com)
A Guide to Growing Your Own Berries! (berries.com)

Re-purposing Window Grilles For the Garden

flower vine — Recycled window dividers used as a trellis.

When I bought my house the sliding door and another glass door had white dividers, or grilles, in them. I don’t like that look. I like my windows to be clear and open – free of dividers to block my view outside. I was happy to find that the dividers could be unsnapped and removed, so I took them all off and stored them in the garage. I thought they would make good trellises for the vegetables.

Well, they do, if you don’t try to put anything too heavy on them. They are a bit flimsy and won’t hold up without breaking but the one I used for my morning glory vine is doing a nice job. The vine isn’t very large yet, but they don’t get big and heavy. I have it next to the deck so the vines can grow up and wrap around the deck railings.

It’s just one way you can use junk in the garden. I hate to spend money on expensive trellises, and truthfully, I couldn’t find any I liked. All my new windows are grille free too – you can find my grilles in the garden.

Adding a Stone Wall Barrier to the Front Yard

My front yard slopes down toward the house and for the most part that doesn’t bother me, except when it rains hard and all the sediment and sand from the road washes into my yard.
The only real option was to put up a barrier of some kind to keep the water running off down the swale at the side of the yard.
Back in May I had someone out to give me an estimate to build a stone wall. Wow, it was gonna cost me! And then it rained, and they got busy, and the job kept getting delayed. A few weeks ago we had a torrential rain, which is unusual for this area, and I went out in my raincoat to pile some small rocks along the edge of the waterline to keep the water out.
I was getting ticked off at the landscapers who didn’t call, but finally one morning I got the call at 7:30 AM that they were coming to build my wall. Halleluiah!
They added a straight line of large rocks (the rocks in front were already there) to make a natural-looking wall. After about four hours of shifting the big rocks around I had my wall. It really needed to be longer, but I didn’t dare change anything with these people. I won’t use them again just because they were unprofessional as far as keeping me informed.

Now I will need to get the dirt moved to the garden area in back of the wall and find some good shade plants to add along the wall. The big part, and expense, is done.

The Jack-In-The-Pulpit Plant I Found (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)
Our Own Backyards And Beyond (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)

So That’s A Garlic Scape!

Okay I am going to show my ignorance here, but I honestly did not know what a garlic scape was.
Yesterday I was out back checking on my tiny garden and saw these interesting pointy things on the tops of my garlic that I had planted last fall.
I’ve heard of garlic scapes, but have never seen one. In fact the other day at the organic grocery store, a lady in front of me mentioned them. I didn’t pay much attention, but put 2 and 2 together and looked them up this morning. Sure enough – it’s what I have in my garden!
So now I guess I need to cut them and use them in my cooking.
Can’t tell you too much more, as this is all new to me. But I love garlic in any form and leaving the scapes on the garlic means they will flower and go to seed. That isn’t good for the growing bulb, so I’ll be out cutting them today.