Question: Berries

I loved learning from you all about our broody chicken (who went "un-broody" before we could get a separate pen built - but we are ready now if it happens again!) and thought I'd ask another question!

With our growing children and their love of fruit, we decided to try to grow more of our own fruit. Tree fruits scare me but berries seem within our capabilities. Last year we planted a few blueberries. Now we are thinking of adding raspberries and blackberries.

I would love to hear of your experiences with any kind of berry. Do you have any recommendations on good varieties for the northeast? Is there anything we should be aware of as we prepare the soil? What kind of support system have you used for raspberries (black, red or yellow)?

We also want to plant more strawberries. Right now we only have one variety. We would like to expand our patch to have several varieties which ripen at various times. Any hints on good ones?

What supplier have you used? We will probably order from Berlin Seed unless you have a better idea!

Thanks so much for your help!