Blackberries

First ripe blackberry: June 27.

This plant has grown really well without a lot of attention. Growing blackberries in Utah is easy.

My mom grew up in the pacific northwest and we have been up there many times. We are always amazed that blackberries are, for the most part, considered weeds and many of the berries just go to waste. Last summer we were given a small start by a friend. We planted it in the southwest corner of the yard, next to a fence and the garage. It grew a bit and the snow came. This spring we found out why it's a weed. It went crazy, producing a ton of vines and growing about ten feet tall. A couple of weeks ago I chopped it back, being careful to avoid vines with fruit and vines in general (they have big thorns). It looks like we are going to get a large crop of berries, and the plant is relatively contained in a raised bed, so we don't mind its aggressive behavior for now.

Blackberries turn dark before they are completely ripe and don't ripen off the vine, so be patient and wait until the berry comes off with a gentle pull. Also, it's best to pick the berries in the early morning. They become soft and more prone to bruising in the heat of the day.

 

Snow peas

We love snow peas. They are great fresh or in a stir fry and our two-year old loves to pick and eat them. Every day for the last few weeks we have gone on a "pea hunt" with her. 
stuck about a dozen four-foot bamboo sticks into the soil around the pea plants to provide support for upward growth. The plants grab onto the sicks and fill out the space nicely. Though the sticks aren't required for the plants to grow, it allows them more air and sun, and it looks nice too. We planted these after the last frost, around the end of April. Peas do well in cooler whether and we will plant again at the end of summer for a fall harvest.

Rhubarb

We planted this "Victoria" variety rhubarb in the spring last year when it was about four inches tall. With rhubarb you are supposed to wait at least a year (sometimes two, depending on who you talk to) until harvesting. This plant has done really well and we couldn't wait, so we have already harvested about 15 stalks. My wife used them to make some incredible strawberry rhubarb jam and rhubarb syrup. The recipes will follow shortly.

The rhubarb is planted against a fence on the west side of our yard in well draining soil and probably gets about 8 hours of sun a day. Note: do not eat the leaves, they are poisonous. Also, when the brain like flower begins to form, cut it off with a knife at the base of its stalk.

Garden Greens

Spinach, lettuce, and arugula. We learned from a friend to plant the seeds in late fall while you can still work the ground and they will start to grow in the early spring. We did two varieties of lettuce.  A mesclun mix gave us a lot of color and a wide range of flavor, and a buttercrunch was tender and continued to produce when we trimmed leaves off the outside. The arugula was great while the weather stayed cool, but became increasingly sharp as it got warmer. Continually trimming our greens seemed to keep them from getting nasty and "bolting," which is when they begin to grow tall and produce seed.

The greens do best in our herb box, which has well draining soil and organic fertilizer. The box gets about six hours of sun each day. 

Strawberries

Strawberries. We harvested our first handful on May 22. We planted the seedlings last year and waited patiently. To our pleasant surprise, the plants sent out runners and multiplied. I can't remember the variety, but we purchased them at Millcreek Gardens. In a taste test vs. berries we bought at Winco, these babies took the blue ribbon and the ones from the store didn't even get an honorable mention.

The plants seem to be hardy and are doing well in soil that wasn't amended or tilled.

The Garden

Here it goes. Time to share with the world our own garden experience. We've got three 4' x 8' garden boxes and plants wherever else they will fit in the yard. We are amateurs. We are rookies. We hope to be gardeners.

What follows will be an online journal of sorts describing our shortcomings and successes in the back yard.