For some time I’ve been wanting to plant blueberry bushes and strawberry plants, because my children could eat their weight in both types of berries. I have tried before, haphazardly to plant them. This time I decided to get serious about it. And have a little fun at the same time.
We are not handy here and our DIY skills are very limited. But some sort of fence was necessary to keep our dog from barreling though the space. She is very territorial and barks at anyone passing our yard, running along the fence – ALL along the fence!
That was what sparked my inspiration for this berry patch in our backyard. Then the ideas grew, the girls got involved, Dad got involved, we made upcycled stepping stones for the space, painted the sign and together we named it Sweet Times Berry Patch.
The simple, inexpensive fence was made using garden stakes, drilling a hole through them and stringing clothesline wire through the holes. And believe it or not, this barrier is enough to stop Lulu in her tracks from running straight through our berry patch.
I bought two gallon blueberry bushes to give us a goodhead start on berries.We have six total, including the two small bushes I transplanted from my previous attempts at growing blueberries. We planted 15 strawberry plants. To keep the bugs out of our berries, Farmer Megan gave me a mixture of clover, herbs and flowers that naturally deter bugs, and we planted the seeds all along the permitter of the space.
The project turned out really fun, whimsical and lovely for the kids. And hopefully, it be full of yummy berries for years to come.
Here’s a few more shots of the space.
The ladder you see from this angle is how the kids climb up to get on the zip line. And yes, we have a zip line going though our backyard. It is the most fun you can imagine for a kid in the back yard.
Now I’m hoping the berries will be the yummiest thing in our backyard!
This is too cute! The sign out front is absolutely adorable.
I love this idea! We have a spring garden and a fall garden, but summers in Florida burn everything to the ground. We’ll have to check out how to plant a berry garden in Florida, though, because my little ones eat berries like they’re candy, lol.
What a lovely berry patch! Thanks for sharing at the Sunday Showcase. 🙂
Kids can hear what else Willems has to say on an audio guide created just for them and narrated by Willems. My 11-year-old son grew up reading the Brooklyn-based adventures of the adorable Trixie and her stuffed Knuffle Bunny.