Subject: [NAFEX] Re: Blackberries in Northern Minnesota
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 11:18:30 -0500
We have not had good results growing commercial blackberry and black
raspberry cultivars in southern Minnesota, despite the presence of wild
black raspberries in the area. As you point out, they are native in the
Brainard area. I have seen them as far north as Bemidji. These wild
varieties are low yielding and have small fruit size, but the culinary
quality is extremely high. As is often the case with wild grown fruit, the
flavor seems more concentrated due to the small size of each fruit.
While we have had a few crops of blackberries, the canes are prone to
disease and crop irregularly.