Step by step guide to growing your own blackberries
Prepare your Blackberry site
Blackberries are not too fussy about where they are positioned in the garden, as they will grow in any sort of soil. Do bear in mind that if they are planted in a sunbaked spot, the fruits produced will tend to be rather dry and hard.
When to plant blackberry bushes
Blackberry bushes are best planted between October and March
How to plant blackberries
If you are planting blackberry bushes in rows, make sure that the rows are at least 6ft apart to permit accessability. Blackberry plants should be planted between 6 and 10ft apart in each row, depending on which variety of blackberry bush you have purchased. Either way, it is advisable to put in a 6ft tall, stong post at either end from which the training wires can be attached. Four rows of wires should be stretched from one post to the other at equal 1ft intervals, starting from the top.
Routine care of blackberries
Blackberries need to be trained to ensure a good crop, and fan training is the most usual method. Simply plant your blackberry bushes as per your instructions on the label, again, between 6 to 10ft apart. Start by training approximately 6 shoots at first, 3 to either side of the fan, and remove any excess shoots. Tie the 2 outside canes to the lower wire, one to the left, one to the right, the next 2 outside canes to the second lowest wire, and the remaining 2 canes to the third wire. Always ensure that the fan shape is retained by tying one cane to the left, and one to the right. As the plant grows, new canes will appear, these can be trained to grow upwards from the middle of the plant and can then be tied to the top wire. To help support the fruiting blackberry canes, the excess growth can be looped around the wires.
Little cultivation can be done to a blackberry bush as it grows, because the root system is very close to the surface of the soil, so apart from the odd session of hoeing, and the laying of a good mulch in June, there is little else to do.
When to harvest blackberrys
Blackberries have a long cropping season, and are jet black in colour when they are ready for harvesting. To help later fruit to ripen, all ripe fruit should be picked immediately, even if it is not required at that precise time. These can be frozen for later use.
 
Did you know..... Blackberries carry their own superstition in the UK? Many believe that blackberries should not be picked after Michaelmas, the 29th September, as the devil is said to have claimed them after that date!
Storing blackberries for later use
Blackberries are best preserved for later use by either freezing them or by making them into homemade jam.
Recommended varieties of Blackberry
Bedford Giant: The large, sweet and juicy fruit of this exceptional blackberry bush is ready to harvest from July to August. This plant is a very strong grower.
Merton: Produces an early crop of blackberries in August. The fruits themselves are shiney and taste delicious. The Merton variety needs to be planted 6ft apart.
Merton Thornless: A thornless variety of blackberry bush that produces it's crop from mid-August to late September. The fruits are large and delicious, and as they have no thorns, are easier to collect than other varieties of blackberry.
Serving suggestion for blackberries.....
Blackberry and Apple Jam
Blackberry Pickle
Blackberry Roll
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Growing Blackberries 
