blackberries

[PrincessPerky]

Know when they are ripe?

Our back yard is 20 feet then a huge hill, and the hill is covered in blackberry bushes (see how good it is to not mow .)

so I was wondering how long from little and red to black and yummy? and any tips on harvesting without getting all cut up by thorns?

Or do I have the wrong berry guessed?

[LuxLiving]

Long sleeves heavy work shirt, long pants, boots, and gloves. I can't do the glove-thing so I always got scrapes, but blackberries are worth it!

Don't forget the tick spray!

[stressedmama]

I second wearing gloves (just make sure you don't wear the knit kind because those darn thorns go right though them)!

[zakity]

Ours are ripe in July/August usually. It depends on the year.

[sidney7]

do blackberries grow better in sandy soil like blueberries? because i tried growing blackberries in the clay soil i have with no luck. i know the west part of michigan has sandy soil and they both grow great there.

[PrincessPerky]

Thanks for the tips.

I have no idea about growing, I didn't plant them, they just grew (nothing I plant grows well) Our soil is clay. but they didn't grow the first few years, only after lots of weds were ignored did the berries start to take over.

[JBinKC]

Hope you had a productive season.

I am zone 5 and usually the blackberries are the last berries to ripen. They start around July 10th and continue to bear through mid August. My blackberries are thornless and are from cultivated stock though. I transplanted them from root cuttings two years ago. The topsoil for about 8 inches is decent but deeper than that is heavy clay and rocky. I didn't get much production from them yet.

I also have some naturally growing wild varieties of thorny black raspberries that grow on my cliffside that bear from mid June to the end of July, wild dewberries that grow from the end of June to the end of July that grow similarly to a strawberry, and wild gooseberries that bear in July.