My diet is meat and berries. I discussed that in my popular article here. However, buying berries can be expensive and so I have a garden so I decided to grow my own berries last year. I explained why in more detail here. Thus, I bought a blackberry plant, some strawberry plans, an elderberry cutting along with an raspberry cutting. My patience and care finally paid off and I want to discuss my successful berry harvest so far in the growing season. Is it worth the time and investment? Am I saving money? Let’s find out.
When I planted everything last year I didn’t think inflation would settle in and raise the prices for all food, including berries. However, it has and I’m thankful I can eat the fruit growing in my front yard instead of having to pay the higher prices.
Now, I have to review the time and money that went into growing my plants. The plants ranged in prices from $10 to $15 dollars, which isn’t too bad. The pots can be costly but thankfully the old owners of my home left behind large container so i reused those. Finally, I have to look into the cost of potting soil and fertilizer. Last year both of those were reasonable. Now, potting soil went up in price slightly, but fertilizer is getting more and more expensive by the month.
Frankly, I didn’t keep strict tracking of my costs but looking at the output of my plants I’m saving money. Especially when it comes to specific berries like blackberries and raspberries. These are quite expensive to buy for the small package you get. My raspberry plant is still young since it’s a cutting so it only produced a few berries this year and last year. However, my blackberry plant had a fantastic season! Although the plant is nearly picked clean now, I picked fat, tasty fruit every single day for a few weeks. And this is from just one plant! if I had more, and I plan to plant more, I can harvest cartons of berries!
As for my strawberries I picked quite a few even though I had to fight the birds and squirrels for them. However, they were on the small side. I think that’s partly due to the kind I’m growing and the fertilizer I’m using. I’m a organic gardener so I’m not using powerful synthetic fertilizers, yet I probably need to invest in organic manure to increase my yields.
The next berry I’m going to harvest is from my elderberry plant. Those berries are ripe in July and August and my plant is heavy with unripe berries. I will use these for medicinal purposes as I do like taking elderberry syrup for its health benefits.
My strawberry plant is still producing even though it’s the end of June. I’m not sure if my plant is June-bearing or ever-bearing. I forgot what I bought and I don’t have it written down anywhere. I’ll know what type I have if it continues to produce berries into the Fall.
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