Georgia Magazine - August 2010 - (Page 26)

It’s the berries! The best berries for Georgia gardens BY LYNN COULTER I Blackberries Blackberries are easy to grow, if your garden has good drainage and full sun. Water the plants well after planting. Continue to water 1 inch a week (use a clean cat food can or tuna tin to catch the water from your hose or sprinkler, and measure it with a ruler). When the fruit appears, in the second year, fertilize with 10-10-10 in midsummer. Well-maintained blackberries may bear for 20 years. These plants don’t have many pests, but if diseases like rust or anthracnose show up, you may need to spray regularly. ‘Arapaho’–The Gwinnett County Cooperative Extension Service says Arapaho is the best blackberry for Georgia gardeners. This thornless cultivar grows upright, which saves space in your garden, and produces large, glossy black fruits. Arapaho likes full sun, but will bear in partial shade. 26 More online at www.georgiamagazine.org JIM CLARK / WIKIMEDIA t’s fun to pick wild berries in the summer, but growing your own is much more rewarding. Wild fruits tend to be small and late to mature, and they’re often gobbled up by hungry birds before we can get them. Next time you’re craving fresh berries for your cereal or some delicious jam for your toast, try growing one of these recommended varieties. ‘Navajo’–This is an erect, thornless cultivar. Like Arapaho, the plants don’t invade the rest of your yard, and pests rarely attack them. Navajo berries are sweet-tasting and moderate in size. ‘Brazos’–South Georgia gardeners report high yields from this vigorous, upright Blueberries are one of the few fruits native to North cultivar, developed by America. Texas A&M University. The medium-sized fruits are acidic, a bush, best adapted to South Georgia, bit seedy and tart, but they’re good and the rabbiteye (V. ashei), a South for cooking. Watch out for Rosette, or Georgia native that grows and pro“double blossom” disease. This fun- duces dependably across the state. Blueberries need acidic soil gus causes doubled, deformed flowwith a pH of 4.5 to 4.8. (Your couners and shoots with bushy tips that look like the straws on a broom. ty extension agent can test your soil, or you can purchase a testing Rosette diminishes productivity. kit at garden centers.) Amend your ground with compost, and plant Blueberries Georgia has a great climate for blueberries in full sun, preferably in blueberries, which like long, hot a place that gets some shelter from summers and mild winters. There are late spring frosts. Choose early-, mid- and late-seathree main kinds: the Northern highson types to keep your harvest combush, recommended ing. Although blueberries are self-ferfor Georgia’s mountile, you’ll get more fruit if you buy tain regions; the two varieties for cross-pollination. Southern highThe plants start to bear in their second year. ‘Alapaha’–This blueberry, a vigorous, new rabbiteye from the University of Georgia Blueberry Breeding Program, bears mediumsize berries and flowers in late spring, which helps avoid damage from any late freezes. ‘Ochlockonee’–Another rabbiteye, this one ripens late in the season. Both types should be planted GEORGIA MAGAZINE http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - August 2010

Georgia Magazine - August 2010
Contents
Viewpoint
Mailbox
Picture This?
Georgia News
Calendar
Festival Guide
Currents
Warner Robins Hits a Home Run
More Little League Action
For the Birds
Around Georgia
My Georgia
Georgia Gardens
Georgia Cooks
Cookbook of the Month
Snapshot
Additional Snapshot Photos
Bonus Recipe of the Month

Georgia Magazine - August 2010