Two Raspberries I Know and Love
I did not have my first fresh raspberry until I was an adult. Not that I was fruit deprived as a child, but raspberries were then (and are now) too fragile to be readily shipped and stored for any time in transit or at the market. I bought my first, expensive, fresh raspberries at the grocery store, in their plastic, clamshell container. They were very large, plump, red… and absolutely tasteless. Not being terribly sophisticated with real foods at the time, I though this was how all raspberries must taste. It was not until year later that I picked my first wild blackberry and was amazed at the explosion of taste in my mouth. Not long after, I picked and ate my first fresh raspberry and it was love! I figured it out then (dope slap), to get good raspberries, you had to grow them.
I did some research, mostly thanks to Organic Gardening magazine and learned about raspberries. The fall before I planted them, I covered over the grass in an area of the garden near the edge. When the grass was dead in later fall (our family is very good at killing grass), I dug the area up and amended it with some wonderful compost I had been saving for this special job.
In late winter I ordered 20 canes of Nova raspberry from Indiana Berry farm (see resources on the blog). Nova was listed as being a disease-resistant cultivar and bore fruit for two seasons, a large June crop and a later fall one. In spring, I covered the area with a weed barrier cloth. The canes looked like sticks with a few roots when they arrived. I spaced them evenly, according to the directions, planted them into holes cut in the weed barrier fabric, staked each one with a thin bamboo cane and mulched. I pounded in some green metal fence posts around the bed and strung wire along them to contain the 4 foot wide bed and keep the canes mostly upright. Canes will send underground runners outside the area you define, so you will need to keep them well pruned to prevent them invading other areas. Boy did they take off and produced a small fall crop that year, and lots of raspberries every year since. Their maintenance needs are slight- cut off all canes that bore fruit and top dress with compost or aged manure. I think they may need a boost this year (their 5th or 6th year of bearing fruit) with granular rock phosphate to improve spring flowering, and fruit set, as the spring crop was lighter this year than usual, though we are getting more fall berries than usual (this is September 10 in central VA). Nova is hardy and productive and the berries are delicious and great for eating fresh or made into jam, pie, cobbler or crisps.
The other raspberry I know and love is the Fall Gold raspberry. I wanted to extend the raspberry season and fall gold produces its large flush of fruit in August and September. It was not as quickly productive for me as the Nova- I threatened it last fall with annihilation if I didn’t get a whole lot more fruit and that did the trick!- but it was very productive this fall. The last several autumns have been very dry around here and I think I’ve figured out that, if I water consistently in August in September, the Fall Gold will produce well. There is still some amount of fruit that does not set, more than the Nova, but we got a good yield so far. The berries are more fragrant and “perfumey” than the Nova, but I prefer them (though my husband prefers the flavor of Nova). They make the best fruit cobbler. I planted them and maintain them the same as the Nova, though all the Fall Gold canes get cut down in fall.
Raspberries should not be grown near blackberries. Blackberry brambles carry a disease that will kill raspberry canes. You need a 150 to 200 foot buffer between them. Before you plant raspberry canes, check for wild blackberry plants in your yard and remove them. Raspberries need some sun, though can tolerate a daily dose of shade (some say shade improves the flavor). Japanese beetles and stink bugs can be a problem for bramble fruits, but I either ignore them or hand pick them and dump them into a jar of warm, soapy water.
I did not have my first fresh raspberry until I was an adult. Not that I was fruit deprived as a child, but raspberries were then (and are now) too fragile to be readily shipped and stored for any time in transit or at the market. I bought my first, expensive, fresh raspberries at the grocery store, in their plastic, clamshell container. They were very large, plump, red… and absolutely tasteless. Not being terribly sophisticated with real foods at the time, I though this was how all raspberries must taste. It was not until year later that I picked my first wild blackberry and was amazed at the explosion of taste in my mouth. Not long after, I picked and ate my first fresh raspberry and it was love! I figured it out then (dope slap), to get good raspberries, you had to grow them.
I did some research, mostly thanks to Organic Gardening magazine and learned about raspberries. The fall before I planted them, I covered over the grass in an area of the garden near the edge. When the grass was dead in later fall (our family is very good at killing grass), I dug the area up and amended it with some wonderful compost I had been saving for this special job.
In late winter I ordered 20 canes of Nova raspberry from Indiana Berry farm (see resources on the blog). Nova was listed as being a disease-resistant cultivar and bore fruit for two seasons, a large June crop and a later fall one. In spring, I covered the area with a weed barrier cloth. The canes looked like sticks with a few roots when they arrived. I spaced them evenly, according to the directions, planted them into holes cut in the weed barrier fabric, staked each one with a thin bamboo cane and mulched. I pounded in some green metal fence posts around the bed and strung wire along them to contain the 4 foot wide bed and keep the canes mostly upright. Canes will send underground runners outside the area you define, so you will need to keep them well pruned to prevent them invading other areas. Boy did they take off and produced a small fall crop that year, and lots of raspberries every year since. Their maintenance needs are slight- cut off all canes that bore fruit and top dress with compost or aged manure. I think they may need a boost this year (their 5th or 6th year of bearing fruit) with granular rock phosphate to improve spring flowering, and fruit set, as the spring crop was lighter this year than usual, though we are getting more fall berries than usual (this is September 10 in central VA). Nova is hardy and productive and the berries are delicious and great for eating fresh or made into jam, pie, cobbler or crisps.
The other raspberry I know and love is the Fall Gold raspberry. I wanted to extend the raspberry season and fall gold produces its large flush of fruit in August and September. It was not as quickly productive for me as the Nova- I threatened it last fall with annihilation if I didn’t get a whole lot more fruit and that did the trick!- but it was very productive this fall. The last several autumns have been very dry around here and I think I’ve figured out that, if I water consistently in August in September, the Fall Gold will produce well. There is still some amount of fruit that does not set, more than the Nova, but we got a good yield so far. The berries are more fragrant and “perfumey” than the Nova, but I prefer them (though my husband prefers the flavor of Nova). They make the best fruit cobbler. I planted them and maintain them the same as the Nova, though all the Fall Gold canes get cut down in fall.
Raspberries should not be grown near blackberries. Blackberry brambles carry a disease that will kill raspberry canes. You need a 150 to 200 foot buffer between them. Before you plant raspberry canes, check for wild blackberry plants in your yard and remove them. Raspberries need some sun, though can tolerate a daily dose of shade (some say shade improves the flavor). Japanese beetles and stink bugs can be a problem for bramble fruits, but I either ignore them or hand pick them and dump them into a jar of warm, soapy water.
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