FARMER'S GUIDE Berries

Set the stage for tasty strawberries, blueberries and brambles with these soil-boosting garden tips.

- JAN BERRY

Once established in your garden, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries will reward you year after year with fresh, delicious fruit bursting with flavor you just can’t buy in a store. The secrets to the healthiest plants and most prolific harvests all lie within proper preparation of the growing area. Prior to planting your first berry plant, consider the following five actions to ensure the tastiest and most exceptional berries possible.

DETERMINE PLANTING HISTORY

Before you invest a great deal of time and effort into preparing a particular spot for your berries, consult your records on what has grown there in previous years. Avoid planting berries in areas where tomatoes, peppers, potatoes and eggplants have grown in the past four to five years, as plants in the nightshade family can carry a soil-borne disease called Verticillium wilt, which could attack your vulnerable new plantings. Because wild brambles can also carry this disease, clear any that you spot in the surrounding area. If you have goats, this is the perfect job to task them with!

IMPROVE DRAINAGE

One of the most critical factors for growing any type of plant successfully is good soil drainage. If roots are unable to get the proper balance of air, water and nutrients they need from the ground, a plant’s growth will suffer.

To determine how well your soil drains, dig a hole about 2 feet deep and 1 foot across. If the dirt isn’t completely dry, cover it with cardboard or plastic for a few days until it is. Once dry, fill the hole with water and observe what happens. If it takes less than five minutes for the water to drain out, the soil is too loose, or sandy. If it takes more than 10 minutes, it’s heavy clay. Both types of soil can be improved by covering the growing area with several inches of compost or other organic matter, and then digging it in to a depth of 9 to 12 inches.