TOPIC: Bad year for berries

This year has been a bad year for berries for me. The critters have eaten most and others didn't seem to produce as much as last years crop. Has anyone else noticed or experienced this bad berry year anywhere else?

Yes, same here in GA. About 80% less berries. I wonder if it was poor pollination. This year I have noticed much less insects, especially bees.

They had a late freeze up north...so expect seed to be tighter again next year.

Seedheads are quick to die in a late frost, and abort if it gets too hot. I guess if it were easy, everyone would be doing it...right?

Well, I guess that we finally had a year where things went well for us in East and Middle Tn. Hillhopper had an excellent crop of berries and I had a pretty decent one , myself. I planted berries of my own throughout the mountains until a couple of weeks ago. My ginseng digging season began for me on the 16th. I have seen and planted so many berries that I lost count. They were everywhere and in a place or two they were rolling down the mountain side by the dozens. It's nice to see that and it may not happen again for awhile. A plant full of red berries is the most beautiful sight in the mountains. What can I say.

I know the bees are suffering from fertilizers and pesticides and they are dwindling here in east Tn also. I thought that maybe it was too much rain in the springtime but I just don't know for sure. Funny that Georgia is experiencing the same thing with low berry counts that east Tn is going thru. Maybe next year will be a better year.