Pruning Berries

We got most of the work in the berries done over the last couple weeks.  Thankfully we had nice weather for working outside.  We still have to prune out the old dead raspberry canes but everything else is done.  Fresh manure  with corn gluten to help control the weeds and then covered in thick mulch.  Hopefully this year we won't be fighting the weeds as much as last summer.  This summer we have to do a lot of canning and replenish our supply of green beans, tomatoes, tomato juice and corn.  We also sold most of our jams and jellies.  They sure taste good through the winter!!  We made wine last summer out of our blackberries and were very pleased with the results.  We are planning  when and where we are going to plant more blueberry bushes and also some black raspberries!!!  Before we take up the field that we currently have our berries planted in we need to plant a new hay field in our bottom 7 acre field.  Our herd size dictates that we keep at least as much land in hay if not increasing it some so that we will still have some to sell.  Well I better leave off here and get some shuteye.  We hope to see a nice crowd for our berryfest and visit with our returning customers and new friends.  God Bless! Jill Zink