The Fruit and I
The Forest is quite giving of various kinds of fruit. We have blueberries, often a super abundance, wild strawberries ditto, blackberries, feral apples, winterberries, mushrooms - well, those are not fruit, but free food. And raspberries.
When we first came here there were lots of wild raspberries in the field. I could get my jam without ever leaving the land. Over the years they disappeared. Apparently young raspberry canes are an equine delicacy. The horses completely eradicated them. In dry Spring years the raspberries would start before the grass, and starting was as much as they got to do. Lately we've had wet Springs with lots of early grass, and we've had far fewer horses, so the raspberries are slowly coming back to the fields.
We also have them near the house and at the edges of the garden. There's a big patch in front of the barn. For some reason the ones near the house never bear particularly well. You can gather a handful, but that's about it. And they'd like to take over the world. They do, unless you really beat them back.
What I need is a raspberry loving horse to graze around the house.
When we first came here there were lots of wild raspberries in the field. I could get my jam without ever leaving the land. Over the years they disappeared. Apparently young raspberry canes are an equine delicacy. The horses completely eradicated them. In dry Spring years the raspberries would start before the grass, and starting was as much as they got to do. Lately we've had wet Springs with lots of early grass, and we've had far fewer horses, so the raspberries are slowly coming back to the fields.
We also have them near the house and at the edges of the garden. There's a big patch in front of the barn. For some reason the ones near the house never bear particularly well. You can gather a handful, but that's about it. And they'd like to take over the world. They do, unless you really beat them back.
What I need is a raspberry loving horse to graze around the house.