06/10/2026
The berry patch, an update - The 'issue': time & effort to manage the blackberries. The 'need': access to pick them. (A longer post)
If I had realistically thought to plant the rows with more distance between them to originally, this would have been simple using a real riding mower. Several years ago I had been cutting down the walkway growth with a 21" push-type w**d eater: that worked, was not easy because I didn't do the cutting frequently enough, but it was reasonable.
A couple days ago, I finally got back to improving access to the blackberries and blueberries. Talking about the thornless blackberry rows: I have so many other farm tasks that this whole berry patch was untouched for 3 years, until the chainsaw option.
the height & volume of 'w**d growth' was startling. 3-4-5' high repopulating the walk ways! It was alarming actually. With 1st 'w**d pruning' I used a chainsaw since the growth was so full, completely tangled and impossible to walk thru. I used the chainsaw like a magic wand, sort of, literally cutting a 2' wide path between the rows of blackberry plants, trees, bushes, wild & usual 'w**ds'. Chew it up, make a path. A few weeks later this open sun encouraged massive regrowth!
The debris from the chainsaw cuttings was an issue of its own while the mass of new w**ds was extra growing up thru the debris. Okay, I had to rethink how I can truly manage this out-of-control growth. How could I get all this tangled clutter out of the walkways? I used a hoe to chop off w**ds near their base, grab any & all of the branches/pieces, pull & roll the debris into a manageable mass - rolling the tangled pile down the somewhat open space. Pushed the mass against a fence or into the open pasture to go back for more of the same until I could actually walk without tripping too much. Of course, it had to be very hot also.
Then I forced the riding mower down the walkway, slow with hang ups, tree chunks, goffer holes, dust & pieces flying... Note, the berry plant rows are only 6' apart. The mower has a 4' wide cut. I knew this was going to be brutal but I could not see another way to make the access easy to maintain. Now, it is easy to walk thru. What berry plants remain will recover. And I will be able to simply ride the mower thru the walkways more frequently to keep it that way.
More: There are still some w**ds & wild thorned berries to remove right under the trellis wires but it is safe to pick what will be coming on very soon. I will replace the wooden end posts with T posts and tighten the trellis wires. Next year I'll run dual wires at 5' high to trap the canes between those 2 wires to support the canes. instead of having to wrap the very tall canes around the top wire to control their splay. There's always more that can be be done yet time & effort requires a balance.
The blueberries are coming ripe starting now and are fairly easy to get to - again using the riding mower & a hand tool to cut off/remove thorny w**ds.
