Whether in pies and ice cream or eaten with them, berries are one of the best things about summer

by Meg McConahey
 

As a populist symbol of summer, berries rank right up there with baseball, burgers, badminton and cold beer.

Plucked right off the bush, they constitute one of summer's sneaky pleasures, relished in secret, one quick snitch at a time.

While irresistible in ice cream, cobbler and pie, the beauty of berries is they don't actually require any culinary commitment; they're nature's original fast food.  You can harvest a basket or a bushel for baking or dispense with the rolling and crimping and canning and satisfy the craving with a dunk of cream or simply go for immediate gratification right there in the garden.

And they're good for you.  Berries are highly rich in anti-oxidants, which attract and neutralize the reactive molecules or free radicals that can damage body cells, leading to cancer, heart disease and eye damage.

The hefty price of a little basket at the supermarket could leave you thinking that this Tom Sawyerish snack has somehow turned into a gourmet ingredient that must be hard to grow.

But Paul Vossen, the farm adviser for UC Cooperative Extension, says that for the backyard gardener, berries can be easy as pie - pie being easy if you know the trick to good crust.  When it comes to berries, the secret, he says, is water.

Too much winter water and the roots rot.  Not enough in summer and they don't produce.  So keep in mind that if you're going to plant berries, you'll need to have a good water supply and be prepared to use it.

Vossen, who relies on well water, has dedicated substantial row-estate in his country acre yard in Sebastopol to berries - blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries.  Here, the Minnesota-born berryman, who became hooked on nature's candy after coming out to California in the late 1970s, tests out different varieties to determine the best for the North Bay climate.

"My real love of berries started when I came here to Sebastopol," says Vossen, who wrote the extensive chapters on berries in the "California Master Gardener Handbook."

"It's really a good fruit for the gardener here because they come into production so early and they're actually fairly easy," he says.  "If you do it right, they will produce for months."

Maile Arnold, a longtime garden designer and educator, also is enthusiastic about berries for the home gardener.

"They're a nice thing at the back of a property or along an edge," she says of the larger bush berries.  "They're not evergreen, but they make quite a handsome screen."

Both Vossen and Arnold emphasize the secret to berry success is proper drainage.  Berries have no real serious pest problems in this area but are susceptible to root rot, so they should be planted in mounds, berms or raised beds.  With heavy adobe clay soil, add sand and organic material, and keep replacing the organic amendments each year as the soil breaks down.

"You'd be surprised the difference it makes," Vossen says.  "It's absolutely true of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries."

For the North Bay, the berries that provide the best bang for your buck in terms of ease, productivity and taste are blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.  Some of the various crosses also are delicious, like loganberries (blackberry and raspberry) and boysenberries (blackberry, red raspberry and loganberry).

There is another category of berries that fall under the genus Ribe, that includes gooseberries and currents.  They can be attractive ornamentals and produce good cooking fruit, Vossen says. But for the effort, they may not be as satisfying as fruit-bearing bushes in the genus Rubus (blackberries, raspberries) or blueberries from the genus Vaccinium or strawberry plants from the genus Fragaria.


     STRAWBERRIES

These are a good bet for any back yard because they needn't take up a lot of space.  You can even grow them in a pot or barrel on a patio.  And they are so much better than store-bought, says Vossen, because commercial strawberries are harvested before they're truly ripe to better survive the trip to market.

Probably the most important tip for growing this lusciously sweet, fleshy summer fruit in the North Bay is to choose what are known as everbearing or day-neutral varieties, Vossen says.

Short-day plants produce in late fall to early spring while day-neutrals don't respond to the length of the day and will produce all summer, says Vossen.  Among his favorites are "Fern," a popular home gardener variety that is extremely productive and tasty, and "Seascape."

He suggests planting as early in the spring as possible, about 8 to 12 inches apart.  Using a drip system, he gives them about an hour of water a day in summer.  He suggests periodically picking off the runners that rob them of energy.

Strawberries do lose their vigor over a couple of seasons, so plan on about two good years from a plant, and then replace it.


     BLUEBERRIES

Of the 16 or so varieties that he is testing, Vossen's favorite picks are "Duke" and "Patriot," both tasty early producers and less susceptible to developing "wet feet" or root rot.  He also says "Misty," "Star" and "Emerald" are good bets.

"I always tell people to be patient with blueberries.  The plant has to get up and grow quite a bit before it will fruit very much.  So figure on about three years and up to five years for full production".

Since they're highly attractive to birds, he completely covers his rows with bird netting.

They need a good solid band of moisture, so Vossen uses a mini-spray system.  On hot days it takes about 40 gallons a day to water his 20 plants adequately.  If you do use a drip system, he recommends putting in two lines, one line on either side.

Arnold, who grows "Early Blue" and "Chandler" in her west county garden, also points out that blueberries have to be cross pollinated; you need more than one variety in the garden to get fruit.  When selecting (buying bare root in the winter is best, she believes), choose an early and middle season producer or a middle and late season producer.  They need to have some overlap in bloom to achieve pollination, she points out.


     RASPBERRIES AND BLACKBERRIES

Of all the berry plants, blackberries are the best adapted to California because they tolerate heat so well.  Raspberries, which are closely related, are adapted to cooler coastal climates.

You can buy both trailing and erect blackberries - erect have stiff canes that are more self-supporting.

With raspberries and blackberries, Vossen recommends trellising to train the canes and make harvesting easier.  He sets heavy posts about 7 feet tall.  Generally two wires are enough, one about 5 feet up from the ground and one 3½ feet.

Blackberries need about 1-2 inches of water per week from mid-May through October.  Keep the plants moist at all times without soaking.