Isn't it amazing how watching two or three football games in a row will flat put the pounds on you? And if that is not enough, you have to worry about all those pies going bad before someone does something with them. I know it's tough, but if you're wise you stop just short of full at the 'big dinner'. The best is yet to come. You may relish the pies that come in pecan, apple, or pumpkin. But, hands down, nothing beats a homemade cobbler. And of all the varieties of cobbler out there, nothing beats blackberry cobbler. Growing your own blackberries for this delectable dish is so easy it should be against the law not to. In preparing the soil, you may even work off some of those pounds you gained from watching all those football games!

Now is the time to plant bareroot blackberries. You can sometimes find container-grown berries at nurseries. But starting them from bareroot transplants is very easy with the regular care that you would give anything when first planted. And transplants are less than half the cost. You will need a spot in full sun. While they will grow in most any soil, they prefer a well-drained, slightly acidic soil. They need regular water, especially when they are fruiting. Blackberries go dormant in the winter but come back year after year. As with any new flower or vegetable bed, you should work and amend the soil prior to planting. Be sure to work in compost for the nitrogen that gives strong foliage growth, rock phosphate for phosphorus that helps in flower and fruit production, and greensand to provide you with any overall strong and hardy plant. All of these will also provide you with all the micronutrients your plants need and will make the conditions right for a strong and healthy soil life to take form.

There are many types of blackberries. You may have seen the trailing type of dewberry that grows wild in our area. These are delicious, but not highly productive. For a more productive plant and a bigger berry, you should plant the Brazos Blackberry. If you cannot deal with the thorns on the Brazos variety you can also find a thorn-less variety. Note that the thorn-less variety does not bear fruit as heavily. While the Brazos variety is erect and the thorn-less variety is semi-erect, they both do well with some sort of trellising. They are self-fertile so no pollinator is needed. They will grow 4-6 feet tall and should be planted 3-4 feet apart in rows spaced 6-8 feet. It is best to plant them in an out-of-the-way spot where they can grow undisturbed for many years.

Your plants will begin producing fruit, in late spring, in their second year. While the plant itself is perennial, the canes themselves are biennial. Fruit is produced on second year growth. New canes grow, berry-less, the first year and produce fruit in the second year. After you have harvested the last of the fruit in early summer you need to prune back, to the ground, all the canes that bore fruit that year. Do not prune the canes after September, as the buds are formed over the winter. Tip-prune the new canes when they are about 3-4 feet tall to encourage branching. Work the new side growth down the length of your trellis system.

There are very few pests that bother the blackberry plant. The best pest and disease control is timely pruning, after harvest, of the old canes. If you have improved the soil before planting, the only fertilizing you will need to do is to top dress them with some compost and add a biostimulant (soil activator) twice a year. Do this just as new growth starts in the spring and just after you harvest the fruit in early summer. ------Steve Bridges