Growing berries in the garden is something many gardeners are passing on because they feel it is too difficult a task. Growing berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, loganberries, blackberries, boysenberries, and even grapes have a better taste, very healthful, more economical and are easy to grow.

Strawberries are the most productive of them all because they produce the largest amount in a small area. If you have never tried growing them this year would be a good time to start. You can plant them in the spring, summer, or fall. Planting them in the fall would be the best time for freezing cold winter climates but can be planted in winter in the warmer climates of the country. Planting at this time, the cooler months, helps to develop a healthy root system so they will start growing bushy in the spring. If you plant them in spring or summer you will need to disbud the plants as the flowers form and pinch the runners back to make certain you get vigorous growth the next season. If you plant them in the fall or winter you will not have to perform these procedures. When choosing your strawberry plants stay with the June-bearing varieties, the "everbearing" varieties do not always yield well.

Raspberries are available in several colors: red, black, purple, and yellow, but the red raspberry have the tangiest fruity flavor and are the most productive. As with most "bramble fruit", raspberries are best planted in fall for colder climate areas, and early winter for milder climate areas. Once you acquire your rootstocks place them in fertile soil that has been endowed with some garden compost, well-rotted manure or leaf mold. You want to keep the soil cultivated thoroughly for the first few months of planting. Raspberries will produce several "suckers" which are new canes that grow from the base of the plant,  Many of these "suckers" are necessary for the plant's development but after you have harvested the last of the crop for the season you need to prune the plant down to about 6 or 8 canes per plant. Prune these down to about an inch of the soil line.

"Tamed" blackberry plants grow better and offer more advantages than wild blackberries. These cultivated varieties produce a heavier crop of fruit that is larger and jucier than the wild variety. With the arrival of thornless blackberry fruit plants and the dwarf varieties, which do not require as much care as the full size, there is no reason for not trying to grow blackberries in the garden. Blackberries will do well in many types of soil but prefer a slightly acidic soil. Loganberries and boysenberries are hybrids of the blackberry which is why they have that blackberry flavor. Their requirements are the same as that of the blackberry. Plenty of compost needs to be applied to these berries every year between spring and fall. For the best productivity rake some general purpose fertilizer into the earth around the canes in the beginning of spring. You always want to keep a berry patch weed free.

To grow blueberries best is to plant them with some of their own kind. For an ample amount of produce it is better to plant several varieties of blueberry. These berries need a high acidic soil; if your soil is high in alkali work in some pine needles, wood chips or other acidic materials for 6 months to a year before planting your blueberries. The planting times for blueberries in California is late fall, in warm southern areas it is late winter and the remaining areas is early spring. The upper twig like branches of each bush needs to be pruned back to encourage root growth, this will need to done again after 3 years of growth. Blueberry bushes also make excellent hedges in your garden.

There are many varieties of grapes to be grown but it all depends on your favorite for eating. A few of the most popular table grapes are the Flame seedless, Thompson seedless and, of course, the Concord grape. The colors are red, white, and purple respectively. The early part of spring is probably the best time to plant the grapevines. Work plenty of compost, rotted manute, or any organic material into the soil. You then want to insert poles into the ground roughly 20 feet apart and then run a No. 9 or  10 gauge galvanized wire between them so the top wire is about 6 feet above the ground and the one below it is about 3 feet above the ground. Now you can plant the grapes roughly 8 feet apart along this wire fence. The first branches that come off the trunk you will want to train onto the bottom wire going in both directions. After season one prune the branches from the old vines and allow another set of branches to grow over the first. For season two and beyond always prune back to the four main branches. You should have a good supply of grapes starting with the second season and every year after that.

The benefits of eating these berries are plentiful. One cup of strawberries sliced has as much vitamin C as a cup of orange juice. They also contain calcium, magnesium, and potassium. One cup of blueberries has a lesser amount of vitamin C but also has minerals and phytochemicals. One cup of raspberries also gives us vitamin C and potassium.