Tonights strawberry haul! 3lb😋

Our sunflowers have started blooming.

🥝🥝

I usually post about kiwiberries here since they can be grown much further to the north, but there are interesting things going on with the large-fruiting type. Some of the newest varieties awaken from dormancy very late and ripen much earlier than the others, and both of these traits are essentially required for most of those who wish to grow kiwi in North America.

The article mentions Tango and Hombre, but AU Golden Sunshine and Golden Tiger are the other two that I am currently aware of. They are still very rare and quite experimental though, so it's difficult to say how well they would likely perform further inland where the climate is more unstable.

The best thing about forwarding posts is that I can't edit them... or maybe that's the worst thing.  I don't know.

Another 🐝🐝🐝day🤗👩🏻‍🌾

The Prelude raspberry is the earliest ripening variety that I know of, but the size of the berries and their flavor are pretty average. In my climate, its one advantage hardly exists. Everything blooms and ripens in a more compact manner, so last year it was only ahead by a few days. This year, however, is very different. The grow season started much earlier than usual, so there is actually some distance between Prelude and the others. I would consider getting it again if I lived somewhere else, but at my current location, I would rather use the space for something else.

can you blame them tho

Goldfinches generally do not venture too far from the edge of the woodlands around here, but the sunflowers really draw them out.

I would consider enduring Florida-like conditions just so I could grow pineapples.

The Keepsake strawberries may have bloomed heavier this year, but production was much lighter than I expected once again. I do not believe most people would experience the same though, but since Keepsake was released only a few years ago and I haven't seen anyone else talk about it yet, it's possible that it tends to be less productive than what their trials implied. It's not very common, but things like this happen.

Similar to last year, the large berries were very good, but the quality was often poor with the smaller ones. Regardless, the crop was much more enjoyable than what I often find at the store. What really impressed me was that the flavor held up very well against all of the rain we've had this year and practically none of the berries were diseased. Keepsake is fairly unique in that it has resistance to both pathogens that affect the fruit, and it ended up being more reliable than I thought it would.

Overall, I think Keepsake is a good variety to have, and I plan to grow it again once I find a new place to experiment. It is the most promising one I have tried so far, but since it seems like there is still plenty of room for improvement, I will have to keep searching for something better.