KJFM NEWS — Garden Talk is produced monthly at the Adair County University of Missouri Extension Center in Kirksville, Mo.

Plentiful rainfall this spring has made for some nice blackberry plants with lots of flowers, and now lots of berries! Although blackberries are drought tolerant, they do need considerable water during fruiting.  If summer brings about an inch of rainfall every 10 days or so, you won’t need to water. But if it gets really dry, plants need a good, thorough soaking. The best way to do this is to let your garden hose trickle slowly. This gives the water a chance to soak in instead of running off. Soaker hoses can also used to water several plants at once. It’s important to note that even if you’re in the midst of a brown-lawn drought, you don’t want to water too much. Once every 10 days or two weeks is plenty. Worse than dry, thirsty roots is waterlogged, drowning roots.

A first crop of blackberries from plants, can be expected during the 2nd season. For the best flavor and texture harvest blackberries when it is dry and cool. The berry should look plump and have a dark coloring. Grasp the berry gently and twist, if the fruit releases easily then it is ripe. Mushy berries that produce juice in your hand could be infested with Spotted Wing Drosophila.

While picking berries try to keep them in the shade and don’t stack them more than a couple inches deep in containers, otherwise the berries will be smashed. It is best to harvest every 2 or 3 days, to avoid over ripening or rotting fruit. Blackberries do not keep long after picking, at most 4 or 5 days in the refrigerator. Refrigerate blackberries immediately after harvesting. Do not wash berries until you are ready to use them. Washing makes them more prone to spoiling. If not able to use right away put the berries on a cookie sheet in a single layer and freeze until firm and then put them in freezer bags to enjoy all year long. Annual average yield per plant is around 1 quart.