2020 berry and harvest report

It’s good straight up no doubt.
I use a sieve to remove berries, if left for a long time and they fall apart it may be better to use a jelly bag or cheese cloth. Makes for a nice clear liquid.

red and black currant infusions

I have done raspberry and Magnolia vine berry before too. Raspberry is amazing and extremely good. Next year I will do Pink currant.

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If you have patience, try making some berry wine/mead, it’s very good with blueberries and blackberries. I use 6lbs of berries, with 3/4gal of water, and 2lbs of sugar (or 3lbs of honey) as a base. Some basic equipment and sanitization chemicals is highly recommended… but not absolutely required if your careful lol.

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a friend of mine does this with chokecherry and its real good! ill have to try it with raspberry.

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my cascade gold raspberry in the ground isn’t producing any fruit, but there’s no obvious disease.

my CG in a container has what appears to be a fungal infection. numerous black specks on the leaves (maybe a quarter of the leaves) and powdery white growth on the stems, especially at the bifurcations. i think i’ll close the cascade gold chapter. it was nice while it lasted, but i’d like to grow a berry plant that’s more disease-resistant and productive. . . and thornless.

Did they bloom at all?

My most productive types are Himbo Top and Prelude. The former probably wins. Yes Cascade Gold is not very productive here either. I know Brady likes the other Cascade (which I forget the name?) I would like to find more like the ones mentioned. I think some local types are, I have to look around for local commercial plants. I’m trying some Canadian plant, K-81-6. See how it goes…

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Fall crop of blueberries is developing and looking fairly good for such a small bush

I also found my raspberry shortcake is developing flower buds on a primocane, interesting as everything I’ve read said they are a summer bearing variety.
My Babycake blackberry has just over half a dozen berries at the top few nodes, they’re developing and starting to change colors. My late season planted Anne yellow is developing berries on its floricanes, and one new primocane shooting out the base
image image

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It was a good day today. I harvested Lavina plums. Nadia Plum-cherry hybrid, Poorman gooseberries, half of them. I ran out of time. Two plants loaded to the gills. Like 15-25 gooseberries on each branch. Crandall black currant giant black berries. I harvested 4 cups, and about 4 cups are left. I harvested 2 cups a week ago. This year these are really sweet. Much better than last year. It’s been a hot dry year here and my fruit is excellent. Poorman is so darn tasty! I also picked 4 cups. I didn’t take any photos as I’m really pressed for time lately. I almost forgot I harvested my Lucky 13 peaches too! These are rather mild peaches, but this year they actually are super good! A nice rich flavor.
Nadia was excellent with a rich deep flavor. My only complaint is the skin stays tart until almost too ripe. Lavina was refreshing, and I like them. But the flavor is not rich like Nadia.
Still this is the first year fruiting, so I expect better next year. I have found flavor improves in everything once plant is happy and well established. Hard to tell this year as conditions are so perfect here for producing top rate fruit. Sorry I slipped a little stone fruit report in there.

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and my baby cakes are just finishing flowering here and I’m still picking northland blueberries. been eating some big dewberries and the 1st berries from my nelson blackberries.

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A few Muscadines are getting close.

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I have a wineberry question. We lived in SE Pennsylvania so were familiar with the wild wineberry. Then we moved to TN and a friend from AL gave me this “new” raspberry-ish plant. I planted it, but soon could see a resemblance to the wineberries that are considered invasive up there. But it is not exactly the same, and I am wondering if it could be a hybrid?

It is not all fuzzy on the stems like the wineberries we saw in PA. It does have sharp thorns, and the buds and berries look and taste like the wild wineberry, but this one is spindly and will just run along the ground like dewberries if I don’t wrap it up and around the wires. And the leaves look just a bit different to me.

Anyone have any ideas?
.

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Raspberries peaked last week. Made gelato with them. I’d say its 70% close, in terms of flavor, to the best gelato I’ve had in Bay Area (surprisingly not many good gelatarias here). There is room for improvement.


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Have the Spotted Wing Drosophila been showing up?bb

Not yet but they are in the area from what other gardeners say. This is my second year of growing brambles so sometime soon :slight_smile:

Wow, looks like professional gelato! What varieties are in the bowl?

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The varieties are Caroline, Fall gold, Double gold and a small number of Heritage

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The colors are lovely!

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None of the reds are as sweet as BP1 or Josephine I had at your place. But for processing (icecream, jam, etc) the tart + sweet ones like Caroline work better

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Joan J Raspberry they were absolutely delicious and some of the best of the year

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Beautiful! I need to get another Joan J next season, I got mine as a young plant over the summer, didn’t make it through a heat wave.

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