Blackberry

Blackberry is hardy to USDA zones 5-9 and grows best in full sun in organic, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0; it tolerates chalk, clay, loam, or sandy soils but should not be sited where vegetables or fruit previously grew, nor near wild blackberries, and plants are set 5 to 6 feet apart and kept at least 300 feet from raspberries to limit shared disease. As a vigorous scrambler it can reach 1.5-2.5 metres in height with a spread wider than 8 metres, so it benefits from a wall or support to contain its growth.

Watering: for the first 2-3 weeks after planting the top inch of soil should stay moist, and because the roots are shallow the top 6 inches of soil should never fully dry out; established plants need 1-2 inches of water weekly, rising to about 4 inches per week once berries are ripening.

Feeding and pruning: after the first year a 10-10-10 fertilizer can be worked into the soil away from the cane roots. First-year canes are left unpruned since they are purely vegetative, but in summer the tips of canes can be trimmed back by about 3 inches, and second-year canes are removed once they finish fruiting. A newly planted blackberry generally takes about 3 years to establish fully and produce a large crop.

A blackberry whose fruit turns orange rather than ripening to black or purple has been affected by a fungal infection, and such fruit should be removed from the plant right away.

Blackberries are best picked in the morning while the air is cool and dry; ripe fruit has softened slightly and lost its earlier shine, and unlike raspberries the stem breaks away with the berry when it is picked.

Storage: once harvested, blackberries deteriorate quickly and typically keep only two to three days; freezing extends storage, though the berries soften further once thawed.

Culinary: blackberries are eaten fresh and used in jams, preserves, and syrups, as well as in cooked dishes, salads, and baked goods such as cobblers and pies; the fruit is also fermented into wine and liqueurs, including a German drink known as brombeer wasser.

Traditional and industrial: the berries have been used to dye cloth and yarn a lavender or purple shade. In Cherokee tradition, roots were brewed into a tea to ease swelling in joints and tissues and leaves were chewed to treat bleeding gums, while in Mexican tradition the leaves were used for gum inflammation, mouth ulcers, and sore throats.

Blackberry descends from wild bramble species in the genus Rubus, native chiefly to north temperate regions, which are documented as the direct ancestors of all cultivated blackberries and their modern hybrids. From this wild stock the crop was taken into cultivation across Europe and North America, even as related wild brambles continued to spread and naturalize further afield across Asia and other temperate areas.