Pruning and planting Blackberries at Center for Environmental Farming Systems

Opps, I forgot to post this....way back in March, I helped put on a workshop at the Center for Sustainable Farming Systems Small Farm Unit. We had a short presentation on growing about growing blackberries inside and then we headed out to the Small Farm Unit to do some pruning and planting.

Der Xiong, Catawba County Extension Agent, pruning a blackberry plant. 

First we pruned an old planting of blackberries. I helped establish this planting in 2008 and it has been maintained using organic practices. It was scheduled to be removed because it had succomb to various problems including crown borers and viruses. However, before they were pulled out, we used them to show how to prune.

Then we set out plants for the new study. We will plant 7 blackberry varieties in this demonstration plot. This site has been used for workshops on organic production of blackberries for over 3 years and will be used for various other education opportunities for interns at CEFS.