With all the rain over the past two months, I was beginning to wonder if we were even going to have a harvest of anything this year, but it looks like it is slowly beginning.  This morning Charlie and I picked two and a half pounds of the most beautiful green beans I ever saw (each bean was perfect without a single flaw), some kale,  herbs, a few onions, some scant tomatoes and 2 pounds 6 ounces of blackberries.  We delivered our freshly picked produce to the Good Samaritans this morning. 

Don't hold back because you might think your offering is too small.  If you have a garden with a little extra bounty, bring it to one of your local food pantries.  It all adds up.  Together we can see that no one goes hungry in our community and that everyone has healthy food to eat.  Our offering today was enough for almost all the vegetable and fruit requirements for two families of four for one day.  It adds up quickly when we all share.

 Good Samaritans are located at 214 North 12th Street - Garland 75040
Phone:  972-276-2263

BLACKBERRY GARDEN RECORD 

I have four thornless blackberry bushes in my yard.  The two in the front bed produce from the last week in May until just past the middle of June.  The the two blackberry bushes in the second bed start producing about the third week in June until the end of the first week in July.  

Sometimes the garden record is also a record of the gardener's life.  You can see from my chart that I didn't pick blackberries on June 2 and 3.  That's because we had 110 students from Watson Tech visit the Garland Community Garden and I was busy getting ready and helping host the event.  Too bad there are only so many hours in one day.

Two Blackberry Bushes in Front Bed

Thornless blackberry bushes planted late July 2013. (Two at $15 each.)

Market value for the blackberries is figured at 37 cents an ounce.

You can see at a glance how lucrative it is to grow blackberries in Garland Texas.  Also please keep in mind.  These two blackberry bushes still have at least as many berries that are still  ripening.  As we move more toward the end of the season the market value will increase.  I estimate that these four bushes will yield about $500 of blackberries this year.  But money is just part of this urban agricultural equation.  Health is another part.  Blackberries which are loaded with antioxidants are an extremely healthy fruit to eat and serve your family. Also they freeze easily and well--they taste as good as fresh when they are thawed.  They don't get mushy like strawberries.  Plant a thornless blackberry this year and you'll see what I'm talking about next year.  You'll be hooked for life.