Berry Happy by Jean Snow VanOrden

When I was a newlywed, and we faced years of temporary housing arrangements, I heard a speaker talk about planting cherry trees.  His point was that it’s beneficial to present happiness to put down roots wherever you are and not delay working at projects that take time to come to fruition even if you don’t expect to stay in a particular location for long.  You just never know what will happen and it’s better to plant with the hope of harvest than to mark time and invest nothing in long–term rewards.  At my home in Eagle River, Alaska I procrastinated putting this idea into practice (as far as landscaping) for years but finally planted raspberries along the east side of the house.  The starts were free from a dear friend with a very productive green thumb and instead of having 10 years of mouth-watering, home-grown raspberry jam I only harvested berries for five summers and it took a couple of summers before we had a harvest sufficient to make jam. 

When we were looking for a home in the Boise area, we had dreams of a large garden where we could grow tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, melons, and even fruit trees.  We ended up on a windy hillside with a spectacular view and significant barriers to cultivating a vegetable garden.  But we were determined to produce something on our sagebrush littered hillside. The task was daunting so we started off small by repurposing a tulip bed at the back of the house for growing berries.  We made a trip to Fruitland Nursery where we bought strawberry and raspberry starts. 

In the past I’ve avoided planting a strawberry patch because I’ve seen one too many weedy grass choked beds of tangled strawberries.  Thankfully, the rich soil of our little flower bed, with the help of some Miracle Grow time-release fertilizer and a simple drip-hose watering system, produced five or six pickings of luscious glossy strawberries that taste better than any strawberries I’ve ever eaten.  My grandson can testify to that as he ate one whole picking all by himself. The berries are beautiful and I am grateful we didn’t procrastinate.

 The raspberries will not produce much until next summer but the few that ripened this year have such a rich color and flavor that we are motivated to expand our little berry patch into two separate beds next spring.  It will be well worth the work and at a very small expense give us a great sense of accomplishment and a tasty harvest. 

I have to confess that we also planted three fruit trees which did not survive our experiment but we are not defeated, thanks to our little berry patch. We have planted not just for ourselves but to the benefit of our grandchildren and whoever may own this home in the future.  Planting and harvesting breathes a little more pleasure, a little more hope, and a little more faith into every day.  Maybe it won’t be a garden we plant or fruit we harvest but investing in any long-term reward will make the world a better place for everyone.