The overgrown area on the left of the photo is mixture of weeds, dead bean vines, thriving morning glory vines, grapevines, and blackberry briars.

My brother Steve planted the grape vines and the blackberries. He said the blackberries were supposed to be a thornless variety, but had briars from the beginning.

For years the vines always produced an abundance of blackberries. Steve and Kim let Granny and me share in the bounty. But they haven’t done as well recently.

Last summer the berries shriveled and dried on the briars. This year they were all white. I mean all white. It was the strangest thing.

I’ve often seen blackberries that have a few white droplets but these berries were totally white, almost translucent. I discovered weather can cause the issue when there are extremes in heat and drought conditions. The berries are still edible, but the white beauties didn’t have any flavor and were on the mushy side.

Once we knew the blackberries were a bust we ignored that part of the garden for the rest of the summer and were rewarded by a real mess!

Yesterday I attacked the jungle and tamed it back as much as I could while Matt attacked the grass with the tractor.

The grapes do so well that we don’t dare move them, but if the blackberries fail us again next year we might decide to remove them or at least plant a different variety.

We should have at least a few blackberries from the briars we planted this summer in a new bed out back of the house. The plants have really grown and look very healthy so far.

Last night’s video: Winter Squash Cookies – So Good & Perfect for Fall – I Know You Will LOVE Them!

Tipper

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