Spring is here and things are looking great in the berry patch! Everywhere plants are emerging, victorious, after the long winter. From below the ground new raspberry canes are pushing up. Most are greening up and leafing out. The rhubarb has begun to unfurl. And on the currant bushes there are petite flower buds, like a dollhouse bunch of green grapes. It’s nice and tidy, since the early spring meant I could finish much of the pruning in March. Soon, rain and sun will transform the patch from a field of bare stalks to a lush, leafy, verdant place alive with bees and birds and my own very busy hands.
This year I am excited about some dwarf cherry bushes just planted. Six of them arrived in a long thin box, like one might use to ship a toy telescope. They are only a foot tall, with no branches – whips, as they’re called – and they won’t fruit for another 5 years, but my mind’s eye sees the plump crimson fruit that will be. Here comes dirty hands, bramble-scratched arms, and early mornings. Let the season begin!
Huzzah! 🙂