Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] raspberries

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Diane Porter <dporter@lisco.com>
  • To: fuwafuwausagi@muchomail.com, North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Cc: Diane Porter <dporter@lisco.com>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] raspberries
  • Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:03:27 -0600

This is good advice, tfb.

I guess we really don't care about the raspberries' color. What we want is sweet berries, some spread out over the summer for as much fresh eating as possible, and a big crop for making jam, not for selling.

We have good Iowa soil that has been fallow (and weedy) for five years and was horse pasture for five years before that. And probably corn before that. We thought we'd get a truckload of composted cow manure to spread thickly on the ground, then cover with cardboard, mulch heavily with straw, and plant the raspberries in holes cut though the cardboard.

That's the way we established our vegetable garden, without ever tilling the ground, and it's worked well. The first year we plant big rough plants like squash and tomatoes. The second year the soil under the mulch is soft and friable, and after that it's like chocolate cake. I'm hoping that raspberries will take to this treatment as well as the veges have.

I guess we should get an everbearer like Caroline. I haven't seen it in a catalog, but I'll look soe more.

Taylor sounds good too. I don't think I've heard of it before.

Thanks again,


Diane Porter
dporter@birdwatching.com
Birdwatching Dot Com
http://www.birdwatching.com
Birdwatching is your lifetime ticket to the theater of nature.



On Feb 16, 2009, at 1:43 PM, fuwa fuwa usagi wrote:

It was so queried:

I'm in zone 5. We're looking at a red raspberry and a purple one, and
maybe a golden one. We haven't decided exactly which yet. Maybe
Heritage and Royalty, and possibly Anne.

My reply:

In evaluating raspberries you want to consider soil type, management, and ripening time in conjunction with zone. I am not sure why color matters unless you intend to have 3 varieties that ripen at the same time. Normally, a home grower (perhaps that is the key, maybe this is for a commercial endeavor?) you attempt to spread your harvest over a on period of time, unless you want a freezing variety in which case you double or triple up on a variety for that season.

As a rule everbearers are much easier to handle(if managed as mono- croppers) but they are late in the season relative to most varieties.

You might wish to strongly look at Caroline as an everbearer that has had success in many soil type s and locations. Heritage is also a very proven Everbearer that has much to recommend it. But once again consider soil types and management. I think at this point if I had to chose, given yoru zone I would take Caroline over Heritage for an everbearer.

Taylor is an awesome late season raspberry that I would recommend everyone grow who has decent soil and can deal with the hassle of a summerbearer. I have let my land go fallow for 5 years now, while I wait to replant Taylor. We have missed it, but I have only so much land.

The reality is my summer bearers tend to burn out in 7-10 years, I have never had that problem with an everbearer and mine are going on 15 years or so. But I manage the everbearers as mono-croppers. I have heard tales of 25 years with Heritage from homegrowers.

If you have rich soil (maybe in dappled shade) I like Fall Gold. Once again an everbearer.

tfb






_____________________________________________________________
The Free Email with so much more!
=====> http://www.MuchoMail.com <=====
_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Reproduction of list messages or archives is not allowed.
This includes distribution on other email lists or reproduction on web sites.
Permission to reproduce is NEVER granted, so don't claim you have permission!

**YOU MUST BE SUBSCRIBED TO POST!**
Posts from email addresses that are not subscribed are discarded.
No exceptions.
----
To subscribe or unsubscribe, go to the bottom of this page (also can be used to change other email options):
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex

File attachments are NOT stripped by this list.
TAKE STEPS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES!
Please do not send binary files.
Use plain text ONLY in emails!

NAFEX web site: http://www.nafex.org/





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page