At last!

[prairiemom]

I've heard from friends all over the country that this has been a cooler than average spring. But while you and I worry about our crops, the folks in the south are happy to not have their gardens already scorched.

I much prefer blackberries to raspberries, but they typically don't survive in our zone. We did buy some Doyle's Thornless Blackberries which they assure us will survive. This is year three and last year we got about 10 berries off the two bushes. I called and asked about the puny growth and production and that's when they told me "Oh, they need acid soil." Duh. Why didn't they mention that in any of their literature? So late last summer I started acidifying the soil and that's when we got the 10 berries. So I started early this spring acidifying the soil, but this is a very rich, dark, sweet soil and it will take a lot. In the meantime, we mulch heavily every winter to protect from freezing.

But I don't think they will ever produce as well as native plants. That's why we have Buffalo berry, Juneberry, Currant and Gooseberry. But they're all pretty young yet. I think the Goose berry will give us a lot this year.

Today I planted 5 of the 6 herbs that I ordered from Crimson Sage Farms. They got here yesterday. They are BEAUTIFUL plants. The shipping is steep (unless you do as I did and combine orders with friends.) but the plants are REALLY good. I got Pleurisy Root, Elecampane, Comfrey, Anise Hyssop, Angelica and Goldenseal. But the Goldenseal arrived broken, so they will be replacing that.

We've gotten about 12 lbs so far of asparagus from our 3yr old bed. We had Cream of Asparagus Soup yesterday. YUM!