Can we talk Raspberry?

[Mickey328]

I admit to being spoiled...where I grew up they grew wild all over the place. Of course the berries were kind of seedy and not large but oh my...the flavor! I know I can't get that with the domestic ones, but I think I'd like some anyway. The black ones are my favorite and I definitely want some of those, but I'd like to put in some red ones as well. The idea of pruning and which canes to take out and all sort of intimidates me. I'd like a variety that pretty much blooms all at once so they can be picked and processed rather than having the harvest drag on over the whole season. I find it difficult to do anything with them (other than have a snack) when they come in fits and dribbles.

We don't have tons of room, so I can have lots and lots but I'd like to have enough to make a couple batches of jam each year. We're in zone 5, with heavy, alkaline clay soil. Absolutely everything we plant gets compost and bunny poo and whatever else we have around to condition the soil (we're working on the entire yard little by little).

So, all that said...any recommendations/advice for me?

Thanks
Mickey

 

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?ZEZQE 2 October 2012 Raspberry Picked 22 Ounces.
The little raspberry patch is still producing. Twenty two ounces picked today. This is probably the end of the season except for a few isolated berries before the frost arrives.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?YSDTG 30 September 2012 Raspberry Picked today.
Total from this patch is about 13 pounds. Two pounds 14 pounces or 46 ounces.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?QGYEV 23 September 2012 Raspberry. Raspberries picked on 26,31 August. 2,13,15, 20, 23 September.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?KUILB 23 September 2012 Raspberry
The small raspberry patch 3 feet by 8 feet has produced about 10 pounds of berries over the last month and more are available if the killing frost holds off.The berries are put through the Champion Juicer to remove the seeds to make a dessert or milk shake.The berries must be processed immediately since mold forms quickly.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BEQFJ 17 October 2012 Pruning Raspberries.
Raspberries are finished producing for the 2012 year. The vegetation is cut to ground level. New vigorous growth begins in he Spring of 2013 and the plants bear fruit starting in September until frost. The vegetation was put through the chipper/shreder and added to the compost pile.
Pruning raspberries
Summer-fruiting raspberries fruit on one-year-old canes that are cut out after harvest and then replaced by the young canes.
Autumn-fruiting varieties are cut to the ground in late winter to make way for new canes that will grow from the base and fruit the same year.
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http://www.durgan.org/URL/?IZJEX 11 August 2010 Thornless Blackberry
Seven pounds of berries were picked from these two thornless blackberry plants in their third year, and the first year of production. The berries ripen over a three week period. Quality is excellent. All the berries have a slight tart taste. This depends on the degree of ripeness. If the berry is fully ripe, determined by it falling off the stem when touched, the berry will be sweet with almost no tart taste.

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?VCJSF 14 August 2010 Making Blackberry Juice.
Many blackberries are available, so juice is being made of the excess. A container of four cups of berries is filled with water, placed in a pot on the stove and gently boiled for about 20 minutes, with periodic mashing. The cooked mash is then run through a fine mesh screen. The finished product is of fine quality and nothing added. Pure!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I understand how good those wild raspberries taste but it is hard to get enough for jam or jelly. I hardly ever found more than a handful growing wild in East Tennessee where I grew up. The best option was just to eat them all on the spot.

The experts recommend to not plant red and black varieties together. They can transmit a virus from one to the other. I believe there is a difference in what can happen and what will happen, but in limited space it might be a good idea anyway.

I recommend you contact your extension office, in the phone book under county government, and see what varieties do well in your area.

I recommend you look at red varieties only. The black varieties bear fruit on last year's canes, much like most blackberries. That means you need to individually prune out the canes that bore fruit this year and leave the new ones for next year's crop. Sounds like you don't want to do that. I don't blame you.

The red varieties bear most of their berries on this year's canes. They will have a few earlier in the year on last year's canes but the majority of the crop is later in the year on the canes that sprouted that spring. You can prune the individual canes in the spring right after they bear if you wish, but another easier pruning method is available. Sacrifice the earlier crop and just mow them all down in the winter. Pruning made easy.

 

[Mickey328]

I think I read somewhere about not growing red and black too near each other as well. I could easily put one kind in the front and one in the back. I love the idea of pruning with the mower, but would gladly do the extra work for the black ones...they're my favorite berry by far.

LOL, when I said the wild ones grew all over, I really meant it...we got several gallons of them every year and could have got more but didn't really need them. Same with blueberries and those wild ones, though smaller, pack more flavor than the great big domestic ones. Our soil is really alkaline so if I were to try here, I'd likely have to bury a bale of peat and grow them in that. Hehe, as much as I'd like to have "everything", ya just gotta pick and choose and try to back a winner

Thanks!

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

strangely i had better luck growing blackberries in the shade than in full sun at my other property. but i have to wonder if it was because there were a lot of pine trees growing over those so the soil pH was probably better for them. the ones in the full sun tended to have smaller berries and got eaten by the birds before i ever got to cover them over. that sunny patch was huge!

we had some wild red raspberries growing in pretty much the same 2 locations with a little separation between the 2 types. i didn't see many berries growing on either patch of reds but i think the local birds got to those too.

over here on my full acre of land we have the black raspberries growing crazy and wild! i've made a small batch of jam from them the past couple years. there was a HUGE patch of blackberries growing in the yard too before we inherited the property. but my FIL had most of the land cleared the year before he passed and i haven't seen many of the brambles growing back yet. i'm hoping to clear away some of the wild roses and aspen trees they've been growing with so i can bring them more light. i also wanted to get some red and gold raspberries again. i got some last year but i didn't get them in the ground in time and they dried out in the pots i had temporarily planted them in. we were way too busy with trying to fix up the house that i didn't get much planting done other than things i didn't have to maintain much.

if you are looking for some decent plants and decent prices check out Double A Vineyard in NY. http://www.doubleavineyards.com/ they mostly sell grapevines but also sell raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and a few other berry plants. the raspberries run from $2-$2.75 per vine depending on how may you order.

 

[Smart Red]

Hey! Nobody mentioned my fave raspberries - the yellows such as Autumn Gold. They can grow with the reds with no problem of passing diseases. I get some in the spring and a large picking in the fall - when I have to fight picnic bugs for the sweet treats.

Those black raspberries - we call them black caps - grow lush and rampant around here. I'm harvesting plenty for freezing, jam, liqueur, sauce, etc. as do blackberries. I agree, my best blackberries were grown in a woods. Huge, juicy, and delicious. Just dangerous to harvest if you value your skin. The ones growing wild here haven't been quite as big, but always a delight.

Oh, and blueberries? We've been told that they won't grow here. We built between clay and limestone. We dug out the turn-around and added acidic materials to the soil. It's been 15-ish years that we've been getting harvests of huge berries every year.

Love, Smart Red

 

[journey11]

I like the flavor of my Heritage reds, but as you say Mickey, they piddle along and get eaten mostly as snacks. I suppose I will just have to plant a lot more of them! (Same with my thornless blackberries...the kiddo gets to munch on them as they come along for a whole month of July. I go to the fields and pick the wild ones if I want pie or jam.)

The everbearing raspberries are very easy to take care of. I just cut them all the way to the ground every fall. They bear twice, mid-summer and mid-fall. Put them some place you don't mind for them to take over.

Only once have I found a patch of wild berries enough to fill a gallon ice cream bucket. I know of several places along gravel roads to get them, but the dust from the gravel is problematic. Those little wild berries don't take kindly to washing. They are so good though.

 

[Mickey328]

Thanks so much for the link, Chickie's...definitely going to check that out! I just can't imagine having wild black raspberries...I'd be in heaven! LOL I think you're right...the extra acid in the soil likely did them a world of good. We've got some spruce trees in the front yard; whatever I plant will get a mulch of needles. I'm not overly fond of blackberries, but then it may be that I've just never had any "good" ones

Red, oddly enough, I've never had one of the yellow ones. I've seen them, but always thought they just didn't even look like raspberries, LOL. Is the flavor much like the red ones? We only have about 1/4 acre, so we have to pick and choose what to put in and I try to keep it to stuff we can get enough of to "do something" with without taking up an inordinate amount of space. I loved those wild blueberries but I've not yet tasted any of the domestic ones that can hold a candle to 'em. Sure, they way bigger, but most I've tried are all but tasteless. At some point we may look into growing some but it'll be a future project.

I agree, journey. Finding things along any road can be problematic with regard to fumes and dust. We lived in the boonies when I was young and our picking spots were well away from any traffic...except bears, of course The blueberries tended to grow in spots where there had been a burn years and years before, or in areas where there had been swampy land that was drying; the ground around was always sort of "hollow" feeling. We also had tons and tons of wild strawberry growing but most of the time the berries were hardly bigger than the head of a quilting pin. One year all the conditions were just right and they got to be quarter to half inch and we managed to pick enough for a half batch of jam...omgosh...I've never tasted anything so good in my life!

 

[Smart Red]

Red, oddly enough, I've never had one of the yellow ones. I've seen them, but always thought they just didn't even look like raspberries, LOL. Is the flavor much like the red ones?

Nope, nothing like the red, at least not to me. They are 'ambrosia of the gods' pure and simple.

Finding things along any road can be problematic

I had this huge area of black caps on my property along the seldom traveled road I live on. I had been harvesting tasty berries from there every year. One year they were especially fat. I had planned to get out and pick them right after work. When I got home, I found that someone had picked everything and trampled down the few brambles that were left. That fall DH cleaned the whole mess out. No one is doing that again. I imagine they somehow thought the berries were on forgotten property, but I wish I could have let them know how their theft affected one family.

Now I let the wild black raspberries grow in the gully out back and along the tree lines. Still lots for me, but harder for thieves to find.

We also had tons and tons of wild strawberry growing but most of the time the berries were hardly bigger than the head of a quilting pin.

I have been looking for a way to start a wild strawberry patch. We had one at our first house. They ARE delicious! Right now I am growing Alpine strawberries. Also pretty small, but chock full of strawberry flavor AND they produce enough for cereal every day through the whole summer.

Just to put everyone on notice: I am looking for CLOUD BERRIES - seeds or plants.

Love, Smart Red

 

[thistlebloom]

I agree with SmartRed about the golden raspberries. I think they taste the best, but mine don't seem to produce as heavily as the reds.