365Caws is now in its 14th year of publication, and was originally intended to end after 365 days. It has sometimes been difficult for me to find new material, particularly during the winter months, but now as I enter my own twilight years, I cannot guarantee that I will be able to provide daily posts. It is my hope that along the way I may have inspired someone to a greater curiosity about the natural world. If so, I can rest, content in the knowledge that my work here has been done.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Last Fruits
Day 363: My everbearing raspberries ("Heritage") have been a delight this year. Bambi left them pretty much alone except for browsing the fresh tops in mid-August and somewhat limiting my late-season harvest, but there have been plenty for my personal grazing as I made my daily patrols to the mailbox. The jays ignored all but the ripest ones, surprising me with a generosity which does not extend to the grapevine. The plants are not yet mature enough to yield enough for jam, and it's possible that two vines will never produce in sufficient abundance given my poor soil and intermittent husbandry even if I could suppress my taste for a snack of sun-warmed berries plucked in passing.
The blueberries did not fare as well. One bush has disappeared. Whether it was eaten by deer or overwhelmed by grass, I do not know. The second produced only a small handful, all but two or three gone for jay food. I think I'll write blueberries off as a bad idea, but I might be tempted to fill their space with two more raspberry vines.
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