Today I continued development of our Wild Bramble patch at the personal residence of EdibleWow.com who is our partner on this particular crop we are developing.
The Land
Close to 3 acres of the finest northern suburbian property is home to our Jewel of a Wild Bramble garden. The area where these are growing has been free of lawn care of any kind except mowing for over a decade. There is a stunning red tailed hawk in the mightiest white pine on the property, deer everywhere (they don’t even eat the brambles!!!) an aspiring apiary – this is a really stunning lot we are working with. Video on it to come.
Why:
If you have tried to grow raspberries, of any variety, you are aware that they are tricky to grow. They seem to succumb to a series of problems from insects to fungus. The wild bramble in michigan is utterly easy to manage and produces in adverse conditions with ease. I have personally never seen them succumb to some dis-ease nor have I talked to a single person who has. In fact, this wild variety is said to carry a virus that negatively effects cultivated varieties of raspberry and thus the wild one’s should be eradicated from any area where cultivated varieties are to be planted. Huh. Think about that. That is like removing a peach tree that grows wild, with no effort on your part, to plant another peach tree that requires tedious management. Ornamentally speaking, yes, it is fun to play with varieties – but practically and functionally speaking, long term ease and sustainability…in my opinion it is the Wild Bramble all the way. I decided to begin managing and developing distribution for this crop because it is so easy to sell. It is easy to sell because I know it kicks ass and so does everyone else who has spent a little time around plants.