Blackberries from my garden today weighed in at 1 and 1/2 pounds. Current Market Value: $7.96
[Today at the grocery store blackberries are selling $3.98 for 12 ounces. I estimate that my two blackberry vines will yield approximately 10 pounds of blackberries this year. That's $51.74 worth of blackberries. I consider this a good return on my investment. Last June I purchased the two blackberry plants for $10 each. With the exception of a little bit of water, I've not spent any money or effort maintaining these plants.]
One of the best pieces of advice I've heard regarding crop choice is: Grow what you like that is expensive to purchase. In my yard I have blackberries, strawberries, peaches, artichokes, golden potatoes, grapes, tomatoes, radishes, and a variety of greens. I do grow a few carrots which are usually not that expensive; however, I love carrots and home-grown carrots are far superior to those found in the grocery store.
Most of the time I eat blackberries plain on my cereal in the morning, but tonight I decided to be adventurous and make a blackberry cobbler, using a recipe I found on the Internet: 1/2 stick of butter, one cup self-rising flour, one cup of milk, one cup and 1/4 sugar and two cups of blackberries--bake 350 for one hour. Below is a photo of the results. It was wonderful and brought back many happy memories of cobblers baked by my mother. Charlie and I had a warm slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.
A garden is a treasure, a gift that continues to give.
Did you know that blackberries turn red when baked in a cobbler?
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Later this evening I went across the street and took Gene and Margie each a piece of the cobbler. You should see their back yard! In fact, you will be able to see their back yard on Mid-Summer Night's Eve this year. Loving Garland Green is putting together a Garland urban garden tour. Mark your calendars for June 21 from 6PM to 9PM! More details will follow. We plan to celebrate the longest day of the year with a Mid-Summer Night's Eve garden tour. (Yes, there will be fairies and lights.) Margie and Gene's garden will be among the Garland gardens featured on the tour. It is a treat to see all their ingenious garden enhancements. Every time I go over there (which is about three times a week), there is something new added. For example, tonight I discovered a new squash support--a little hoop trellis built of wire and extending from the inside of their raised bed out onto the grass.
