Growing Tayberries

 

I have been trying a varieties of hybrid, less familiar berries in my garden.  I like berries because they bloom later and therefore are less prone to freeze, easy to care for being less prone to pests and disease than fruit trees, and are delicious fresh eaten or made into a variety of preserves.

Tayberries are a berry hybrid.  It is a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry with the sweetness and juiciness of both these berries. Tayberries are much easier to contain than raspberries or blackberries but do have spines.

Growing:

Tayberries originate from Scotland and are easy to grow.  They have few pests and diseases.  They flower late in the season ensuring your crop is not damaged by frosts, and ripen earlier than most other berries.

Plant as bare root stock in early spring.  Mix compost into the planting hole.  Every year in early spring, cut down to the ground canes that bore fruit,  fertilize with a dry organic fertilizer and spread a fresh layer of mulch around the bushes each spring. An occasional drink of fish emulsion and kelp keeps them happy.

Tayberries are grown like raspberries.  Each spring new canes are produced which will produce fruit the following season.  After fruiting, the canes can be cut down to the ground and the new seasons growth left to produce the following year.

Tayberries need support.  I use t posts with hog fencing.  I try to tie the canes in a fan shape.  

Harvesting:

Allow bayberries to fully ripen to a deep reddish purple.  They will be sweet and delicious when fully ripe and wonderful eaten fresh.  They also would make delicious jams and freeze well. I have not found them to be as productive as raspberries or blackberries but I'm hoping the harvests improve each year.

June Fruit Drop & Thinning Fruit

 

June Drop

June is the time when fruit trees naturally drop some of their fruit.  It's called the June drop and is a natural way the tree ensures a healthy crop. It can be distressing and concerning to see fruit drop to the ground but its necessary and normal. Trees set more flowers than they need or can sustain to produce fruit and ultimately seeds.  Too large of a crop will stress the tree and requires competition for limited resources for the fruit to mature.  So the tree drops some fruit to ensure a healthier crop.

Additional thinning is recommended for apples, peaches, pears, plums, and nectarines.

Reasons for Thinning

• Thinning will result in fruit sizing up nicely
• Thinning increases the plant’s ability to form flower buds for the next year, provided the thinning is done early enough. Failure to thin can lead to biennial bearing problems i.e., over-production one year followed by a year of extremely low yields;
• Thinning reduces the weight of the fruit load on the branches, thus prevent branches from breaking
• Insects and diseases are more difficult to control when fruits hang in clusters and are touching

How to Thin

Hand thinning is the easiest and safest method for removing excess fruit. Begin hand thinning when the fruits are about ½ inch to an 1 inch in diameter. Start at one end of a branch and systematically remove fruit

Apricots and plums can be 3-4 inches apart.

Nectarines and peaches should be thinned to 3-5 inches apart

Apples grow in clusters.  Keep 1 to 2 per cluster. Keep the largest or healthiest looking fruit of the cluster.  

The white powder you see is the kaolin clay.  I will be respraying this week