My first attempt at growing food in my backyard was with cantaloupes and watermelons and that did very well. Two small sections grew to be two 8′ x 10′ area and ended up using 4 cattle panels to build an arch trellis for each section to grow vertically. The main reason for this was to minimize space used so my kids still had plenty of room in the backyard but also grow as much as possible!
Video 1 – How to build a cattle panel trellis to grow cantaloupes and watermelons vertically. I have two slightly raised beds built from cedar pickets that are each roughly 8 feet x 10 feet in size. They both have 8 metal U posts and two 16 feet cattle panels.
Cattle Panel Garden Trellis
Video 2 – Vertical cantaloupe garden from day 1 to fruit slings and the trellis build. Watch to the end to see the day 1 photo versus day 120.
June 7th 2020 I know that June in Texas is not the best time to plant Blackberries but I decided that now was better than waiting until next spring or even later this Fall. I just really wanted to get started and add to my blackberry row. I currently have 4 Natchez Blackberry plants that I bought thru Amazon and put in the ground back in April 2020. They are doing very well – check them out here. I did some more research and decided to try Prime Ark Freedom blackberries which I ordered from Pense Nursery. They arrived very small with a sturdy stalk and either a few green leaves or a new flexible shoot coming off the short sturdy stalk.
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 10 on June 19th, 2020
June 15th, 2020 All 10 Prime Ark Freedom plants look very similar to the above photo but plants #8 and #9 appear to be the weakest of the group. See photo below from June 15th, 2020.
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 8 & 9 June 15th 2020
July 1st, 2020
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 8 July 10th 2020Prime Ark Freedom Plant 9 July 10th 2020
July 18th, 2020 What a difference a month can make! The two that appeared the weakest in the early stages are now two of the strongest a month later. I was surprised at how much growth happened in about a month! Same Prime Ark Freedom plants #8 and #9 above are shown below just over a month later!
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 8 and 9 July 18th 2020
August 1st, 2020
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 8 Aug 1st, 2020Prime Ark Freedom Plant 9 Aug 1st, 2020
August 3rd, 2020 First flower on my Prime Ark Freedom blackberry plants – plant #3. Walked out this morning to look at the row and there was a flower less than 2 months after transplant!
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 3 first flower Aug 3rd 2020
September 26th, 2020 Tip Layering Blackberry Plants – Some of my plants are tall and easily tip over to the ground so today I will try tip layering for the first time. Here’s my video:
How to Tip Layer Blackberry Plants
October 1st, 2020 My Prime Ark Freedom plants are getting taller so I needed to raise the trellis string.
Prime Ark Freedom Plant 8 on Oct 1st, 2020Prime Ark Freedom Plant 9 on Oct 1st, 2020
October 17th, 2020 Blackberry Tip Layering update – 21 days later! Here is my video after 21 days showing the roots.
Tip Layer Blackberry Plants Part 2 – Update 21 days later
The Texas Gardener 