![]() In addition to its excellent fruit quality, Sweetie Pie is resistant to double blossom. Sweetie Pie has its ripening season in the middle of or late in the blackberry-growing period, which for most of Mississippi is mid- to late June. Peak fruit production starts to occur in year three. Like most blackberry plants, Sweetie Pie has a perennial root system but biennial canes, meaning they fruit only on the second year’s growth. Sweetie Pie is an excellent choice for homeowners who wish to grow their own fruit and for you-pick operations and farmer’s markets. This thornless plant has a vigorous growth habit, which is reflected in its copious production of large, very sweet fruit. ![]() Sweetie Pie blackberry was bred by the USDA in Poplarville, Mississippi, so it tolerates heat very well. So, I’ve come to appreciate homeowners who want to grow this delicious fruit - especially the thornless selections - in the relative safety and convenience of their own gardens. Besides enjoying the fresh-picked fruit, I also learned more than I wanted to about thorns, poison ivy, ticks, chiggers and the occasional snake that would scare the heebie-jeebies out of me. You see, I grew up agriculture-deficient in the suburbs of Detroit, and picking wild blackberries was just not an option there. I remember how one of my favorite things to do in the summer was pick the wild blackberries that seemed to grow everywhere. When I first moved to the South in the late 1970s, we lived in a rural area of upstate South Carolina. This week, I want to spend our time considering the last of the 2019 Mississippi Medallion selections, Sweetie Pie blackberry.
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