Planting grapes and raspberries

It's an early closing today at the office, because of Good Friday, and all I can think about is getting home to plant the bare-root grapevine and raspberry brambles soaking in a bucket of water in my laundry room. They came a couple of days ago in the mail, and I've been keeping them damp and cool in my attic since then. But it's really time to get them in the ground, so I started soaking them in a bucket to rehydrate them last night.

It seems that every time I go on the Elmhurst Garden Walk I see that at least one homeowner has a little patch of rasberries, one of the easiest fruits to grow at home. Because raspberries are so expensive at the store, and because my three bare-root plants cost me about $10.00 (plus shipping) and will bear for years, raspberries are a great value. They're a fantastic "starter fruit."

Pre-construction, I had my own little patch of raspberries in the backyard, and they were great. But the bulldozers left me with just a single plant, just enough to make me want more.

When we first moved into the house, I planted Concord grapes from some cuttings given to me by a friend. Over the last 10 years, I've gotten bushels of grapes. Unfortunately, Concord grapes have seeds, and they are purple, so my kids won't eat them. Thus, this year's grape (Marquis) is a cold-hardy green seedless variety that the kids will eat.

The Concord grapes make great jelly, and one year I made about 20 pints of grape jelly from the one plant in my backyard. But canning isn't a project I can, or want to, take on every year.

Of course the recession has spurred a new interest in frugality and growing your own food. There's even a vegetable garden on the White House Lawn this year. Homegrown fruit, which is often overlooked, is worthy of space in the garden. I'm already anticipating the first taste of those homegrown grapes or raspberries, still warm from the sun, though it may not come until next summer.