Growing berries

Has anyone had success growing blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries?

I'm looking to get either blue or raspberry bushes for the upcoming season. (Possibly both). We have some delicious wild raspberries nearby, so I know they can be successful.

From what I've learned, it's best to get multiple bushes of different types to cross-pollinate. Will bees help bushes be successful? (I'm also hoping to keep bees starting this spring). Has anyone ordered bushes from a good dealer online?

I've grown strawberries before, but the berries always grow very small, and the only way I can describe the taste is "watery". No flavor, just taste like sugar water. I've never had the plants more than one season, so I'm wondering if multiple seasons make them taste better or I need different soil conditions? Should I pinch off flowers the first year to make it stronger/will that result in bigger berries? I'm also interested in growing them indoors for multiple harvests. Has anyone done that with success?

Back in the day we had raspberries and strawberries (my family bought a farm that had been the local strawberry farm, 5 acres of strawberries!) I think things like how much sun, and what breed of plant matters. Not sure if age of plant is a big deal but it couldn't hurt to try keeping them going.

i haven't done anything with strawberries since I was a kid at my grandparents and i seem to remember them being a lot of work to get moderate yields. I'd rather let someone else do the work, and pay them for it

Raspberries on the other hand, they take work to keep from getting out of control. They do take a year or 2 before they really start to produce, then just some thinning and keeping them cut back from invading everything is all they need. Red ones, black ones, yellow ones, they've all done very well.

I've never tried blueberries, we always just went and picked them, never grew them, but i was just a kid then too. I'd be interested in hearing how it works for you.

Many many years ago, the old man who lived next to us had a strawberry "patch." It was, I dunno, a 4x4 frame setting on the ground? It had a hinged lid that set just outside of it and had rabbit fencing stretched across the top. He grew strawberries in that thing for so many years and he always gave some to us. It was fun to go next door and take a peek in the strawberry garden and see the various stages as they grew. And I remember them being really good. I don't remember it taking a lot of maintenance but I do know he had a compost pile full of grass clippings and leaves, and he fertilized the patch every year from the compost. It could be that he worked on that for years before we even moved in and once it got going it was easier to tend each year.

My mom tried to grow strawberries last year in one of those small multi-hole planters and the squirrels swiped every single one, so no clue how they tasted. =P

I bought a raspberry bush at a store here on clearance and tried to get it to grow, but I think it was dead when I bought it... it never did anything. I gave up after the second year, chopped it up, and it was definitely dead by that point. I want to try again but I'm not sure where to put it if I get another. I'll buy from the nursery instead when I'm ready.

There's a variety of strawberry that is white when it's ripe so that the birds don't realize it's ready. People called them pineberries because they taste pineappleish and they are freaking delicious. A lot of the flavor comes from the variety. Some of it also comes from heat. Sunshine and heat draw sugars from the plant into the berry. That's why storebought strawberries tend to be blah. They're picked before they're completely ripe and so don't get a chance to draw sugar out of the plant as they ripen. If you want strawberries I'd recommend trying out some varieties classified as "everbearing" because they'll produce more.

Blueberries take a few years to get going, but some varieties produce extremely well. I'd invest in something that turns into a giant bush vs. the low growing small ones. My boss had a big patch of 6' tall blueberry bushes and she'd get a couple of gallons at least from each.

You'll have to check which ones grow best in your area. Also, some varieties prefer to grow in water and some like their feet dry. I don't grow them because there are so many u-pick berry patches that are super cheap and a few feral patches open to the public (though you have to fend off bears).

Raspberries are probably the best if you want high enough yields to do stuff with in only a couple of years. You can get enough from a good raspberry patch to make a bunch of jam, or syrup, or serve raspberry trifle every day all summer. They also get really tall so that keeps enough berries out of picking range of kids that you'll get to keep some, while still leaving a lot of them in reach for kids to snack on.

Bees are awesome and make all the things produce better. I'm jealous. Hoping to get into bee keeping but it's probably 2-3 years off for me.

EDIT: Different varieties can be good for cross pollination. It's also good to have a mix because most varieties have a certain window of time they have ripe fruit in. If you have several different ones planted they tend to ripen at different times so you can have a continuous supply of fresh berries throughout the season.

For nurseries, I LOVE Raintree Nursery here in WA. But then again their plants are well adapted for my climate. You might call them and ask what they have that is hardy where you live. Or they might be able to recommend someone in your part of the country with plants that would do well. It's fun to browse through their catalogue though.
http://www.raintreenursery.com/

When I get my house I'm going to plant some of the commercial varieties of European elderberry trees. Like Haschberg elderberry. Omnomnom.
http://www.raintreenursery.com/Haschberg_Elderberry_Gal_Pot.html

I tried raspberries with little success one year and I may try again. Don't forget blackberries. Wild blueberries taste so much better than the domesticated ones. Strawberries can even be grown indoors next to a good window. I've seen some people do it during the winter.

My bf's family has raspberries and strawberries.

According to him, it's hard to start up growing them. The first few years the berries will usually be small and sour or not very good tasting. They spent quite a few years cross breeding the different plants they had before they had tasty raspberries. He says blueberries are a little easier but still might take a few years of growing to get good fruits.