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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] How many berries

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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] How many berries
  • Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:38:24 -0500

I guess I'm going to agree with most of what other people have said.

I grow red raspberries in zone 6, eastern MA. I have an established bed of "Fall Red" (probably from Miller, although I got them from a friend) and I just planted some "Caroline" last year. The friend also grew "Heritage", and I think that "Fall Red" has superior flavor. I'm looking forward to "Caroline", which is supposed to be even better. I bought my "Caroline" from Nourse, and I love their catalog. It's aimed at commercial as well as home growers, and it's the only catalog I've ever seen that gives a comparison chart of key characteristics of cultivars and says that some of the varieties have mediocre flavor, or whatever. The raspberries I bought from them last year didn't thrive, but they cheerfully asked if I'd prefer replacements last year or this coming spring, and all the other stuff I've bought from them has been quite healthy.

I have birds and squirrels and deer and other critters. One year the squirrels got into the raspberries, but then I got a cat who liked to chase squirrels, and now even though the only outdoor cat I have doesn't bother with prey that large, they leave them alone. If birds take the raspberries, they leave plenty for me. They are the only fruit I DON'T actively protect from wildlife, and I get decent crops from my 4 plants. (If I had room, I'd have a lot more plants.)

I manage my raspberries for two crops. The first crop comes in July, and the second in early September. This is perfect for me, as I tend to be out of town for a lot of August, and I like that I don't have unpicked berries tempting the critters. The berries continue to fruit until we have a hard frost, although the crop gets smaller and less sweet as the season wanes. I mulch the raspberries heavily with shredded oak leaves (I mow them off my lawn) and add a lot of nitrogen (corn gluten) when I feed my lawn in the spring. I have been irrigating them during fruiting season since I noticed that I tended to get fruit a couple days after each rainstorm. The extra water makes a big difference in my crop. Other than picking, pruning (twice yearly), mulching, and watering, I give them no special care. I consider them my most successful crop.

You should definitely taste some yellow and purple raspberries before planting them. They taste different from the red ones. I like the purple raspberries, and find the yellow raspberries bland. I prefer red to either purple or yellow, though. Also, yellow raspberries attract bees and yellow jackets. I have bees all over the flowers as I pick the red raspberries, but they are never on the fruit. When I've picked yellow raspberries there were bees everywhere, and I had to be careful to avoid grabbing a fruit with a bee on it.

Ginda

On Feb 16, 2009, at 11:26 AM, Diane Porter wrote:

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.

I'm open to suggestions as to what to order and where to order them
from.

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 10:33 AM, Ernest Plutko wrote:

What kind of raspberries are you buying and what zone are you in?

---- Original Message ----
From: dporter@lisco.com
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: RE: [NAFEX] How many berries
Date: Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:44:25 -0600

My husband and I are planning to plant some raspberries this spring.

We were so merrily laying out the bed for 50 plants, and then my
husband asked me, "How many berries is this going to produce?"

And I realized I had no idea. We are only two people, but we love
raspberry jam and could easily consume 50 pints of it in a year. But

will 50 bushes yield way too much?

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



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