The wild patch that has yielded so well the last few years is showing the effects of little rain, plant competition and poor pollination. The handful of varieties of raspberry are virtually non-existant. The black caps are missing from the vine, or shrivelled into tiny hard knobs. Many of the red berry canes bare one single fruit surrounded by shrunken or absent berries. The patch that looked so promising in May has not given much fruit, well into our usual season. I went scouting today and came back pretty dissappointed.
The blueberries seem to be equally paltry which makes me think pollination was poor as those berries were flowering at the same time...or the lack of water between then and now forced the plants to conserve.
The upside to my little story is that the timing or nourishment or any number of other factors seems to be working out for other members of the patch. The wild blackberries are just starting to turn. The bushes are prolific, the berries, abundant, as are the cultivated bushes in our backyard. Everything has been ahead of schedule and very quick to pass. The strawberries came and went before I knew it.
So as with every year we tally who did well and who did not. Thank goodness for the blackberries 2012. Knock on wood.
Ah, and the lessons of the Raspberry continue. In times of need we must sacrifice the sweetness and show our durability! They will bear thy bloody red fruit again! (They better any way :)
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