Saturday, April 28, 2012

Blackberry Winter

Dear Friends,

In my part of the world and in my small town, slight hail and a few snowflakes have graced this Saturday. We also have a warning of a heavy freeze tonight.

My garden plants (including the turtle garden) are easily covered, and my raspberries have not bloomed yet!

I do think about my friend, Gary Stroh, who has the best strawberry, apple, pear, and peach orchards in our area. Gary stays open until mid-March with his apples of all varieties and opens back up as soon as the strawberries are ripe.

He also has pumpkins in the fall and Christmas trees in the winter. Gary is one of those old-fashioned self sufficient farmers that we all support in my small town.

Today's cold weather and tonight's heavy frost is often known as Blackberry Winter. It usually appears the first week in May (and we are very close to that!)

Traditionally is comes when blackberries are blooming and the snow drops onto the white flowers.

I don't know when this names first started, but I do know that folks like myself often use the term.

Once Blackberry Winter is over, there are no more cold nights! So, onto the planting which we will discuss a bit later!

So tonight cover those plants, build a fire if you are so inclined, get out that good book and snuggle in for Blackberry Winter. After tonight you will be too busy gardening to do much reading!

Lou Ann

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