The  blackberries I planted two years ago are going to give us some fruit this summer, assuming we can get to it before the birds do.

I planted two varieties, Loch Ness and Natchez, both chosen primarily because they have no thorns. The Natchez berries are shaping up to be huge – quite a bit larger than the Loch Ness.

The Natchez variety not only makes enormous fruit, it  can also sometimes overproduce berries, growing more than the leaf mass can ripen. The key, I’ve read, is proper pruning. I’ll find out over the next few weeks whether I did right by my canes this spring.