I am so done. The next few days of rain will be a welcome rest. But as today was cloudy but clear- it was work time.
All you really need is a shovel. And muscles. I dug and I dug and I dug the side area under the fence. Then I put down some soil acidifier and fertilizer. In went the blackberry vine and some mulch and I was done.
Well not quite. Turns out blackberries don’t produce so well without a buddy. So as soon as the rain goes I have to get Ms. Marion here a friend. I left room for it- I just have to dig another hole.
But that is a future neanderthal’s problem so I’m just going to put my heels up today.
I also planted my Joi choi and larger romanesco seedlings today, but that was very easy work.
8 went into the fabric bed, along with some mulch, and 4 went into one of the top beds.
The two seedlings on the left are the larger romanesco.
So I’m all cabbaged up. I just have to mulch the upper bed and let nature do the watering tomorrow.
I need a nap.
The Neanderthal Gardens 
Ha! Cane Berries! My Pa tells me that no one grows those anymore. I think there is less disdain for them in suburban areas where naturalized brambles are not such a problem. The VERY nasty Himalayan blackberry grows right outside here. It is the thorniest of the weeds we must contend with, but it will not prevent me from growing cane berries. There are some sort of raspberry out there; and I intend to add blackberries someday. I didn’t do it this year, but might if the nursery in town is about to dump there unsold bare root stock. I don’ care what cultivar it is if it is free. I can select cultivars later if I must.
I have a particular love for the marion berry but I’ll eat pretty much any blackberry! I’m not actually suburban I’m urban- just in the southern part of the city with a larger than average backyard- and all along the main street there are wild blackberries. I used to eat them walking home from school, but god only knows whats in the soil there. So since my soil is not lead heavy- I’ll grow my own!
I sort of think that there were more of those wild Himalayan blackberries in San Francisco than there were in San Jose. In San Jose, they live mainly in riparian areas, like along Coyote Creek and Guadalupe River. Most of the region is too dry for them to be as happy as they are in San Francisco. There are probably more of the garden variety blackberries that have naturalized there as well. They do not do that in the Santa Clara Valley. Besides the nasty Himalayan blackberry, the only others are the native California blackberries. They are good, but not very big.