Permanent fruits

[ChickenMomma91]

OK we signed on our house this past August (YAY!!!) and can start thinking permanent structures and vegetation. The very poor and so not to scale drawing of our backyard/Urbstead with chicken yard is what I need help with. You can obviously see that a good portion is for the girls, the hot pink spot is the resident mulberry tree, the pink box is my future strawberry patch (where the girls can get some berries) the big purple box is my future blueberry bush in an above groundplanter cause I'd need a back hoe to dig a big enough hole to create anacidic soil, the bluish dot is my husbands yew bush, dark green is the trunk of our soon to be trimmed maple tree, big red blob is the fire pit (gotta love wood ash!) and the pale green box is going to be my straw bale greens bed. Note I did not have the space to include my south facing side yard which will have my big straw baleveggie garden. I go into all this detail because I need some advice. I want to get some rasp/blackberry canes into the picture and still have a backyard for my son to play in and my dog to have her space. Plus a clothesline is in the works. I know big ambitions for a rather small yard. I would also appreciate advice from fellow Missouri zone 6 gardeners as to what varieties of blue, straw, rasp, and blackberrieshave worked here. I probably won't get canes till next season but it would be nice to have the planning in the works.After we get a fence up I'm going to espalier some fruit trees too.

 

[Britesea]

If you plant a bramble (blackberry is especially bad) be prepared to fight it continually and blackberries like to conquer the known world. I would recommend a strong box (with a bottom!) to grow them in- you might (might!) be able to keep it from taking over your yard, although I have personally seen blackberry vines break through a 6 inch cement patio over time. I don't have first hand experience on whether raspberries are as bad as blackberries in this regard.

 

[baymule]

To keep the blackberries from spreading, what about burying sheets of tin around the bed?

 

[Denim Deb]

For a clothes line, can you put up an umbrella style one? That's what I have. It takes up very little room and I can hang at least 2 loads of wash on it-even sheets. I just have to go around the corners when I do.

Raspberries can spread. I don't know that they're as bad as blackberry. I just had them show up at my house. I have no idea where they came from. If possible, I'd look into thornless varieties of both blackberries and raspberries. They're easier to care for.

 

[ChickenMomma91]

I'd love an umbrella type line, I kinda wanna steal my grandmas. They're out of my price range though. The cheapest I've found is like $200

 

[Denim Deb]

How about something like this?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Moerman-88380-32-Line-Outdoor-Parallel-Clothesline/17380069

 

[ChickenMomma91]

@Denim Deb I'm so ordering that on payday! Thx for that

 

[Denim Deb]

I'm almost wishing I had that instead of the one I do have. It looks like it would be so much better for hanging out sheets.

 

[ChickenMomma91]

Still haven't ordered the clothes line. Crap keeps coming up that is way more important. Strawberry patch is dug and lined with garden film and chicken wire (stupid freaking burrowing creature) just needs some garden soil and the frost free date. I ended up with a but load of strawberry plants but everything I've read says to pinch the blooms this first year to give me strong plants.

 

[MoonShadows]

I made 2 - T frames out of left over 4 x 6's over two years ago for a clothes line set up, and they are still sitting on the ground behind one of my sheds. Every time I see them, I think, "I should get these in the ground!". In the meantime, we have a "temporary" rope strung between our back deck and chicken run we use as a clothesline...temporary for the past two years!