Grapes & Berries in Aries

We entered the Aries constellation today / warmth / fruit. And so appropriately, I went to workshop at Swansons this morning called "Grapes and Berries in Your Garden", and have walked away with some informational handouts and increased excitement for caretaking the berries and grapes currently established, and perhaps adding a few plants this year. Now is the time to plant bare roots. With the enormous rhodendron hedgerow shading out half the garden I will probably add currents, which are able to tolerate some shade. Other berries are said to need at least 6 hours of sun, which some beds in this garden cannot provide. Soon I will need to prune the table grapes.

 At the workshop I learned that in order to maximize sunlight, foliage should be cut back. Also the rows should be planted North/South. Unfortunately for these grapes, they are planted among a rhodedendron hedge East/West. Since I have to go in to prune, and can barely find the canes anyway, I'll be cutting back some of the rhodedendron.

For berries, we have one flowering current, one gooseberry, two blueberries (do not self-fertilize, so need at least two kinds of plants nearby each other) 

and lot's of ever-bearing strawberries (one main crop in June and smaller crop end of summer)!!! I found out contrary to my previous understanding, that strawberries, too, prefer lot's of sun, and like roses and other berries, should be watered from below - don't water from above and avoid fungal problems.

 I love this photo because it makes the strawberries seem like they have super intense root systems. What you are seeing here is a need for me to trim back some runners. I really need to clean up these strawberry beds because more space is better for productivity. One farm I worked on let the strawberries go and it because so dense in there, nothing much came out. The farmer decided to take out the entire bed altogether, but better maintenance would have ensured more crop. I'm one to talk. I should not have all that foliage as seen above. Strawberries are supposed to be "mowed down" after harvest to an inch to overwinter. I did this to some extent last fall. Since I'll be removing the border beds to plant alliums and nitrogen-fixers I'll finish the job soon. Months later. Today I will clean up the strawberries, tomorrow I will prune the grapes. Full Moon is on it's way.