I really do.

I thought raspberries were your ultimate “tough-as-nails, grow anywhere” kind of plant. But after two years, mine are barely a foot high.

This year, they flowered a little. Some of the flowers even became tiny raspberries, but none of the tiny raspberries have become edible fruit. Most died right on the branch.

They get morning sun and late afternoon sun. During the heat of the day, they are shaded by a pine tree. They have a nice layer of wood mulch. They get water when I water the garden.

I just don’t get it. Why do my raspberries hate me? What am I doing wrong?

Break out the chicken wire — My strawberries are blooming and bearing fruit!

A year ago, I ordered three varieties of bare root plants from Stark Bros. They had a slow start and produced mostly shoots and leaves. A few flowered and I split my single ripe strawberry with chipmunk. It was unbelievably good. I was hooked. (Don” ask me which variety it was. I lost the tags.)

Since my first bite, supermarket strawberries just don’t cut it anymore for me. I started buying strawberries at the local farmers markets. They didn’t have a long shelf life and I would greedily eat them over the kitchen sink for breakfast.

This year, however, my strawberry plants are in blooming. My crop looks super promising. I can hardly wait to eat my very own berries!

In other berry news, my blueberries are in bloom! I know I should nip the buds to encourage stronger root formation, but I really wanted to see a blueberry bloom in person. Aren’t they sweet? They look a bit like Lily-of-the-Valley, no?

This is my second year growing blueberries. My tiny plants came with such great promises, but I have to wait another year or two before I can taste the fruits of my labor.

I know a few things about blueberries, but not much. I know there are two types, low-bush and high-bush. They like acidic soil with lots of loamy matter. Some are self pollinating, but most prefer a partner.

Blueberry bushes are beautiful in a home landscape. They are covered in white blossoms in the spring and red foliage in the fall. They have few problems with insects, but birds like the fruit and bunnies like the brush. (They waited all winter for me to uncover my bushes, then nibbled one blueberry to nubs this spring.)

The U of M Extension Service says it’s easy to grow blueberries, but I’m not so sure. (Sadly, after introducing seven blueberry varieties, the U of M is phasing out their blueberry breeding program.) Polaris, Northcountry, Chippewa — I don’t know what variety tastes best or what variety grows best. I followed their online directions but I am not sure I prepared my site properly. I have no idea how fast blueberries grow — and I have no idea how much fruit three high-bush blueberry bushes will produce.

(For the blueberry curious, I highly recommend this site http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/bluebweb.htm.)

It’s all one crazy botany experiment in my backyard. Intellectually speaking, I love a challenge. Gastronomically speaking, I’m only in it for the berries.

Do you grow your own blueberries? What tips would you give to us beginners?

Are you a fan of PYO produce? If you already know that stands for “Pick Your Own,” you probably are. I’ve been out to two berry farms near me, the Berry Patch and Natura Farms this summer. I’ve picked strawberries, red and black currants, blueberries, and just this week, black and purple raspberries. If I’m living right, I’ll also get to pick blackberries before the end of the summer, too.

Do you have a favorite place to pick berries? Have you been out yet this summer? Strawberries are over, of course, but there are still some raspberries and blueberries to be had out there.

I take special delight in heading off down a row, bucket swinging off my arm. There must be some innate joy in foraging food, as I get practically giddy when I find big berries others have missed. Folks of all ilk show up beside you and you can eavesdrop on some seriously strange conversations (note to the woman picking blueberries last Sunday — your friend really did not want you to describe in exacting detail the pregnancy video you offered to loan her).

The best part, of course, is figuring out what to do with your bounty once you get it home. Did you see Amy Thielen’s story on making jam, along with an audio slide show?

Are you a jam-maker (freezer or canned)? A jelly aficionado? We’ve made both at my house this summer (raspberry jam, blueberry jam, currant jelly). And frozen both juice and whole berries. This year, for the first time, I’m also trying to dehydrate some berries for use in breads later. Have you done that? Have any suggestions to share?

Robyn’s lucky. Her neighbor sneaks into her yard (with a Bobcat) to remove troublesome boulders. My neighbor sprays herbicides on my raspberry bushes.

Here’s the full story:

For the past three years, my backyard neighbor and I have pretty much ignored each other.

Every now and again, her black lab sneaks into my yard. The owner promptly retrieves her pet but never the mess he left behind. I could handle a misplaced poo if she smiled or said “Hi” when I greeted her, but this neighbor has no interest in me.

Cursing every time she pulls a weed or trims her tress, it’s also obvious that my neighbor has no interest in lawn care or gardening.

This spring, she suddenly started to care about the plants on our property line — rather the dandelions growing under the shrubs and hostas on our property line. If I had seen my neighbor spraying herbicides on these plants, I would have stopped her. All I saw — and smelled — was the aftermath of her chemical warfare.

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