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  • From: Michael Dossett <phainopepla@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Marionberry
  • Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 12:01:14 -0700 (PDT)

Betty and others,
 
Cascade was introduced in 1940 and became the favored berry in the Pacific Northwest for preserves and juices.  It was grown commercially until it became supplanted by others, particularly Marion.  Marion is just as soft as Cascade, however it has larger fruit and higher yields, and is easier to machine harvest.
 
There has been controversy brewing here in the NW for several years now as many growers want a thornless replacement for Marion with better cold hardiness and many processors wanting a thornless berry with better fruit charactaristics (firmer, not discoloring during freezing etc.).  More than one place has gone out of business due to lawsuits from Marion's thorns contaminating a final product.  Thorns in a shipment of berries are now classified as the same level of hazard as broken glass.  The processors don't want to get sued and now if a shipment from a grower is found to have any thorn contamination it is turned away and the whole lot is dumped.
 
At the same time a few processors and brokers as well as those hired to do marketing have, over the years, latched onto the Marionberry brand and have succeeded in convincing many that Marion is superior in flavor to all others.  They now have such a vested interest in keeping Marion around that they don't want anyone in the industry to change.  As the two factions have drawn their respective lines in the sand and started to dig themselves trenches behind them It has made things more complicated for those trying to breed a replacement for Marion and has the potential tear the industry apart.
 
To make things more complicated many of those selling fruit as "Marion" have started mixing in Kotata and other berries that have a similar appearence but are easier to grow and yield higher.  Because they lack the distinctive flavor of Marion, though, it has started to taint the Marion brand that some have worked hard to build.  Nobody yet has been caught "red handed" trying to cheat the system (Marion does get a slightly higher price because of the demand) but there is talk of creating a certification system with DNA testing to protect Marion growers...
 
In any event, it all helps keep life, and commission meetings, interesting.
 
Michael
 
Michael Dossett Corvallis, Oregon www.Mdossettphoto.com phainopepla@yahoo.com

--- On Thu, 4/2/09, Betty Mayfield <bmayfield@opusnet.com> wrote:

From: Betty Mayfield <bmayfield@opusnet.com>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Marionberry
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Thursday, April 2, 2009, 10:24 AM


Sorry to disagree with you, Lon, but I have found Marionberries rather "blah."  I think that by far the tastiest is the Cascade, sold by Raintree Nursery at Morton, Washington. Their catalog says:

"Thought to be a cross between Loganberry and wild Cascade trailing blackberry (which it will pollinate), this berry was a very popular backyard crop 40 years ago, but it has long since been unavailable. Many still ask for it, because of an unmatched wild trailing blackberry flavor, a much larger size and higher productivity. Fruit ripens in July. USDA Zones 7-9. 4 inch pots."

It is not commercial because it is very delicate. When picking a quart for a pie, the weight of the berries will start to crush the juice out of the bottom layer in the container. It tastes like the little wild berry, but yields much more juice.  In fact, I bake it in little individual pie dishes and serve each with a spoon as well as a fork to catch every drop of juice!

Betty Mayfield
northwest Oregon

At 05:50 AM 4/2/2009, Scott Smith wrote:
I can vouch for the 7F limit, I tried to grow them but found I needed to take them down and cover them in my Maryland climate (gets down to about 0F here most winters) or they would die back.  I got hooked on Marionberries on trips to Oregon, they are the best tasting blackberries I have found.  There are several newer varieties which are supposedly "almost as tasty" as the Marion which are a bit more hardy and I am testing them now.  They include Metolius, Black Pearl, Orus 1843-3, and Siskiyou.  I hope at least one of them is regularly hardy in my climate and tasty as well.

Scott




------------



Marion  is a variety of trailing blackberry produced at Oregon
State U. 
from a cross of Chehalem x Olallie.  It was introduced in
1956.  
Chehalem has a local species, Rubus ursinus, as a parent that gives it 
a particular rich, aromatic flavor.  The variety is mainly
grown  in 
the Willamette Valley for pies and preserves and is highly prized for 
them.  The berries are quite large, but with unusually small
seeds.  
The vines suffer damage at 7 F above zero, so they can't be grown many 
areas without winter protection.   Marion is the standard
against which 
all other berries are compared in this area of Oregon.



-Lon
Rombough
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