Drats, no more blueberries

[Knotbored]

It seems some years ago (local legand) a sea captain spread large blackberry plants all over this valley to replace the small "natural" berries. I think they are Himolayan and Olynpic varieties. Wife prefers the wild small ones but I haven't the patience to pick those. The larger (and later) ones get about the size of your thumb and grow up to 30' a year. I cuss them for 11 months and love them for 1 month (starting in about two weeks.) I have 20 acres of woodlands and clear about a city-lot sized bunch of vines every year, but they propagate as fast as I dig them out.

 

[SPIKER]

I did some picking this weekend and this past week of some goodies, got some fresh pies and the rest (over 5 gallons) going into a wine making press!






Mark

 

[Chuck52]

Spiker,

I do the same thing with my excess blackberries. Do you shoot for an all-juice wine, or do you add water? I usually end up making mine in the fall using berries I freeze during the summer. My patch produces over a long period because I have several varieties, but I can usually only pick about a gallon at a time. I used seven gallons of berries and ten pounds of sugar last time and only ended up with about 3.5 gallons of finished wine....gotta get some kind of press so I don't lose so much in the squeeze. That sure was some potetn wine, though, and very popular. Made a nice sangria-like drink.

Chuck

 

[SPIKER]

Spiker,

I do the same thing with my excess blackberries. Do you shoot for an all-juice wine, or do you add water? I usually end up making mine in the fall using berries I freeze during the summer. My patch produces over a long period because I have several varieties, but I can usually only pick about a gallon at a time. I used seven gallons of berries and ten pounds of sugar last time and only ended up with about 3.5 gallons of finished wine....gotta get some kind of press so I don't lose so much in the squeeze. That sure was some potetn wine, though, and very popular. Made a nice sangria-like drink.

Chuck

Chuck:

I turn mine over to my brother and let him take them into the liquid stage He takes them to an old doc who has been making wine of all varieties since before I was born, hopefully my brother will get his know how prior to all that learning being lost!!!

I will hopefully get some of the learning myself and be able to make the wine

Mark

 

[sandman2234]

I put in some serious seat time today on my tractor and my neighbors tractor. I cleared about a quarter acre, plowed it up into rows and planted 52 blueberry plants. I planted 3 different varities, and have a little more room left for about 25 more bushes, if they are still selling them at a reasonable price when I go back south of here. My new little blueberry farm isn't nearly as big as the ones I got back in the 90's but I sold that property and the blueberries went with it. I had 135 mature plants and you could pick all day and not run out of berries. I had them planted in a low area that had an artesan well nearby, and I could just flood the whole area with the well. Not going to be able to do that here, so in the morning I start laying pipe to run out there. The pipe will feed a few sprinkler heads that should give them enough water.
David from jax