domesticating wild dewberries

[ayyon2157]

Here in NE Indiana, we find dewberries along the creeks (actually manmade ditches which take water to the natural creeks)

     They seem naturally hardy, as they are often the only thing which survives spraying with herbicides.  I was always impressed by their "thimble" size, and not too bad flavor. There is a taste, sort of like the taste of "dent corn" as compared to sweet corn, but not too disagreeable.

     We usually mix them with wild black raspberries for pies or cobblers.

     Anyway, I dug some up and planted them in my berry patch, and they are very prolific.   About every second year I mow alternate rows of them  off in the fall, which doesn't seem to make too much difference in production.

     We had no bees until I got some this year, but the bees don't seem to find my berries 3/8 mile away.

     Raspberries seem to come and go, victim to various "blights" or whatever, but nothing seems to harm the dewberries.

bill m

[fcderosa]

They can be a bit invasive if conditions are right.  I have about 2.5 acres of them which sounds great but renders the land useless.  Lots of long sharp thorns.  I mow them down every fall, in spring the bloom - my bees are all over them, I let the neighboor kids pick the fruit and then they're mowed over once again.  To me they're as annoying as kudsu but with a stinger.