Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Another gardening update - berry bushes!

Do you remember those dead-looking sticks I received last month, when I wanted to propagate some of the local berry bushes for use on our property? In case you don't remember, here's what they looked like upon arrival at my house:



Though these sticks did not appear promising, we stuck them into buckets of soil, and have been tending them faithfully. Two of the sticks, which had obviously been harvested with a bit of root attached, started to sprout new growth fairly quickly. Here's what they look like now:






The remaining sticks still just look like sticks stuck in soil, but we haven't given up on them. Under the dirt, we hope there are roots forming. One of the rootless sticks has given us a bit of hope:



I'm excited about how this is working out! I've purchased seeds to try to start berry plants, but starting from local cuttings - plants that I know can live and produce in our climate - gives me a much greater chance of ultimate success.

5 comments:

Live Simply Love Strongly said...

Exciting! What kind of berry bushes are those?

Beth said...

Whew hoo! I think you are on to something here! Isn't it amazing how God designs those sticks to just start growing when they encounter soil and moisture! Amazing! Was it in Honduras that the locals would plant sticks from some kind of tree to use as fenceposts? I remember seeing that somewhere...
You are all in our prayers!! Love Beth

Patty said...

Yes, we have trees holding up the barbed wire strung on it. They were just bare limbs planted in the ground. We also have a 'indian lemon tree' (to me they look and taste like Key limes) we started from a branch just stuck in the ground.

Yes Trish what kind of berries? In fact, I don't recall any berries here in Trujillo. I am in a jelly making mood and would love a mess of blackberries.

Trish said...

I was told these are either blackberries or raspberries, but I don't know which of the two. I have instructions on how to tell which is which, but the plants have to be bearing fruit in order to make the distinction, so I'll have a while to wait before I know about that.

Randall and Rachel Beita said...

Praise God for new life! How yummy those berries will soon taste!