How To Build a Berry Patch & Not Get Divorced In The Process

Marriage and communication skills often times makes for strange bedfellows. It is such and amazing thing to me that Mark and I have been married for twenty eight years. We don't fight about the big things that seem to always top the list like money, jobs, kids. When I decided on a modular house he says "ok". Then after much thought on Marks part he announces he doesn't want a modular home he wants to spend $75,000.00 more and get the log cabin and I say "ok". Not an argument in that entire monumental decision. But get in the Nissan with us on the way to the farm to drop off a load of compost for the new berry patch and boy howdy I can assure you the tension level in that vehicle will make you want to crawl out the window and strap yourself to the roof rack while going 70 MPH on the freeway. And why you might ask does a berry patch cause such a heated discussion accompanied by elevated blood pressure? Because both of us have already built that berry patch in our heads and they do not in any way shape or form look alike and we are also completely convinced that our own plans are the very best! Twenty tense minutes later we have agreed to disagree until Saturday when we actually start to build the berry patch, because truly at this point it is just an idea we don't actually have any berry plants just a load of compost. Compost by the way we purchased from the city for $4.00 and once again we are using that borrowed/stolen farm use trailer.

Cut to later that same night and you will find us cozied up on the couch together with the Double A Vineyards catalog picking out our raspberry, blueberry and blackberry quantities and varieties. Calmly discussing the row width and row spacing based on Internet research because some day we are going to buy a Kubota 32 horse power tractor and we needed to know the width of the mower deck, it is 72 inches, and that my friends is how you decide how far apart to space your berry patch rows.



In the end the argument fizzled out because it was never that important to begin with, there is this great song by kd lang and yes she uses all lower case letters, titled The Perfect Word, the lyrics say "I don't need to win this fight, I just need to make it right". We will have a berry patch and it will have a wonderful variety of berries and the patch will look amazing. In reality the end result will resemble a mesh of both Mark's and my vision. So that we can get on with the important things like were we are putting the garden and how big it will be and row spacing and veg.................