September 18, 2010

Raspberries

Raspberries are definitely a jewel in my garden. They are also a great example of how I have come from being a totally clueless gardener to well....I guess a slightly less clueless gardener. I still have much to learn but the successes keep me going.


First raspberry attempt: Latham- A spring bearing variety. They had a few berries on them in their third year (last year) but I'm not impressed. We will probably give them one more year to prove their worth. The plant remained small for the first three years. I trimmed it to the ground last year (knowing that it would not produce this year). It really grew this summer so we will see if there are berries next year.

Autumn Britten- Awesome! It is "everbearing". We trim it to the ground in the fall and it produces large amounts of berries starting in early August. They are huge and have the classic sweet with a hint of tang raspberry flavor. This is our second year and it produced lots for fresh eating, giving away and winemaking as well. We are still picking a fair amount and will until a hard frost. The quality deteriorated slightly in September (a less tender texture) but the taste is still quite good.

Jaclyn- We planted these last spring. They have not performed as well as the Autumn Britten did in their first year but I have high hopes for them. They are also an "everbearing" variety. The plants are small and the production has been quite low but the taste is excellent. They produce a dark colored, sweet berry. They are my husband's favorite. I miss the tart flavor raspberries usually have. These are more candy-like (in my opinion). I enjoy them but most will go to my husband if they do well next year.

Unfortunately we are running out of room for berry bushes. I'd love to plant more. Maybe it's time to look for a bit of land!

5 comments:

Művelt Kert said...

Dear Chris, raspberries are worth increasing the land - they are so delicious! I have Autumn Bliss that produce sweet berries for long weeks - never enough. Eszter

Chris said...

I really enjoy the Autumn Britten, Autumn Bliss sounds good too. It is so sad when the frost hits. There is nothing like picking, sharing and enjoying fresh raspberries. I'm glad you stopped by. I enjoyed reading your blog. Chris

Connie said...

I miss having raspberries! It is on THE LIST to do next year. Our neighbors decided to burn one year and it got away from them and burned our raspberry bushes. :-( We had Heritage.....bears in June and September and great taste! Fortunately I had given starts to my neighbor, so now can get some back from her, of my original plants.

donna said...

Next August, if you seem someone lurking around in your raspberry patch, it might be me. All this berry talk has me drooling. I don't know how to grow them, but I'm an expert at eating them.

donna

Chris said...

You might well have competition from someone else named Donna. That is my Mom's name and she loves the raspberries. We joke that we might look out into the yard to see her having a meal in the berry patch. I guess she will have company out there. No problem, there is enough for everyone!

Thanks for visiting!