I set out an acre or so of blackberries in April. 9 rows about 100yds or so long. Also have one row of blueberries and just set out a row of muscadines. Next spring we should have quite a few blackberries. I intend on U picking all of it. People around here used to pick blackberries every year, just about everybody did. Very few people do that any more. I guess its because of thorns, ciggers and copperheads. I thought if i provided a place where the community could come pick good berries with no thorns, chiggers or snakes, i might could revive a little piece of the past. If yall know anyone within driving distance of Nectar AL who might want to pick berries, if all goes well we should have them around june. The price i have in my head is $12/gallon bucket, ill provide the bucket. Theyll be big berries. I feel like thats a very fair price. I need to make a little money but this is more a community service than anything. The blueberries likely wont produce much this year but maybe in a year or two. No muscadines this year but if they do as well as the others weve planted, there will be some next year. I dont want to count my eggs before they hatch, but this is what im expecting.

Love me some blackberry cobbler.

This is the blueberries and muscadines. I had set out two rows of blueberry plugs(about 6 inches tall) at the same time i set out the blackberries. They never grew really good. Should have spent a year or two in pots, i guess. About all of them died when it gt really dry this year. So, i bought 40 3yo blueberry bushes in 3gal pots and set out one row and replaced the other row with muscadines.

Nice. Love blackberries and wish I was closer to come pick some and meet you. Funny about the snakes as I get wild marionberries in summer that are like blackberries and the rattlesnakes hang out by them. I just wear my snake boots and look very carefully before I move my hand to pick any berries.

Where did you get the plants from in bulk

Blackberries i got from Agrastarts. They were 72 count flats. The plants were small plugs. Agrastarts has been great to deal with and the plants have grown better than i ever would have expected. Muscadines came from Isons. They screw us one way or another every time we do business with them. But their muscadines are really good so i put up with it. The 4ft tall blueberries came from a mexican nursery above Blountsville. I paid up for them and the muscadines. The blackberries were about $1.35each, if i remember right.

Thanks, I know you answered this before but what varieties did the best for you

All the blackberries i planted early did great. They sent two varieties a month late, one of them almost caught up with the earlier ones, the other didnt grow well but it had started getting a littledry around here by then. I have 9 varieties in this big patch. I have 50-60 bushes, i guess, at our orchard. They made berries this year. The Natchez did the best but theyre at the bottom on sweetness. I will be surprised if all these new plants dont produce well. Theyve just grown really well and look good

I bought muscadine vines there and supposedly bought gold and purple but has only produced purple. Guess I’ll have to try to get golden vine male and female if I remember correctly.

Awesome JW

Dang you're gonna be loaded with black berries. I know a few people that I can send for business. I experimented with 7 varieties and my favorite flavor was Osage. Then Natchez. Arapaho was bitter, terrible. Triple Crown was terrible bitter too. I'm gonna focus on growing Osage and Sweet Pie black berries. Natchez and Osage seem to be the flavor they sell in grocery stores in my opinion. I've got a hundred yards all together maybe. The birds robbed me blind til I covered them last summer.

I had 40 blue berry bushes all different varieties but the drought hit and I let them die. I was tired of weed eating around them honestly. And I didn't plant them deep enough. Might have to try it again but the bird's are hell on south parkway in Huntsville. My neighbor got 4 ferrel cats that are killing machines but my dog tries to kill them anytime he sees them in the yard.

That's an excellent price for flats, I will definitely have to buy my stuff from them thanks for the info.

Black berries are sky high in grocery stores

Following your lead, I purchased a flat of Blackberries from Agrastarts as well. Supposed to be here the first of May. I ordered the Natchez and hope to have abundant fruit next year.

Thanks for all the info on this endeavor JW!

Good lck. Let me know if theres anything i can help you with. Im just a year in. Im no expert, by far, but i feel like its gone pretty good so far. Ill post some new pics soon. Theyre growing like crazy again, starting to bloom.