No frost yet…we usually get the first frost by the end of October though. It usually take a hard freeze (<30F) to totally stop the production.
Double golds are sweeter and more productive for me, but I just planted them this spring. I need to see next year if I can fruit them reliably in my low chill area. Other berry growers here can help with more reliable info 
Also, I had Josephine and BP1 from @Girly’s yard and they were sweeter than any of the varieties I grow.
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It got to 34 here on the 13th, and that’s here up the hill. Down the hill it must’ve been colder because the PA Freedom and Traveler plants that had little berries on them have all but shriveled up since then. My rasps have a few berries on them, but not many left there either, so our berry season might be over this year.
Pity, I was getting big, fat PAF berries before that frost. My canes on that variety have become monsters this year, compared with the other UA varieties, not a lot of new Osage or Ouachita canes. Triple Crown also pumped out lots of canes, too. Should be a very good blackberry season next year, depending on the winter, of course.
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There goes the theory that a frost zapped the SWD in your area. I wonder what happened?
I used to have SWD bad enough that I stopped growing Fall bearing raspberries, but over the last two years, I have not had enough SWD to be an issue. I planted Josephine red raspberries this last Spring and they have been unaffected. I wonder if my local ecosystem balanced out the SWD now?
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It just seems too good to be true, almost has to be a fluke. Even with predators eating SWD there should be some pressure. I haven’t planted raspberries yet at my current house because of SWD. With all the berries and autumn olives growing wild in the area, I don’t see how we don’t get it. I’ll have to make it a point to check the neighbor’s wild blackberries around the 2nd week of August next year. That’s when there should be too many SWD to bother picking.
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I’m in a similar situation. The property I live on has a ton of wild, berry producing plants. Autumn olive, asian bush honeysuckle, elderberry, blackberry, black raspberry, black cherry, pokeweed, buckthorn, etc. The black rasps don’t get infected much since they are early but everything else does.
I first noticed the SWD this year in my red raspberries on July 9th and their population took off pretty quickly from there. Only the earliest rasps have a chance to avoid them. There are so many that spraying is pretty pointless. I tried spraying with spinosad, making vinegar traps, and thinning canes, but none of that had much of an effect on their numbers. By late summer, I was lucky to find 5% of my raspberry crop uninfected.
The only thing that worked were organza bags. They are a bit annoying to use on rasps because they sometimes get caught on the thorns and make picking much more times consuming since you have to take them off and put back on for each bunch of berries, but at least I get to harvest some of the berries that way.
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When we were young, we ate mulberries off the tree and loved it. After someone noticed all the larvae on them most of that stopped. We did discover that submersing the berries in water caused the larvae to separate and float to the top, allowing them to be discarded. I am sure the eggs were still there, but there seemed to be no ill affect on the fruit when processed. This was a long time ago.
I was looking through this old thread thinking about spring and saw your picture of currants. Is that a variegated variety? I’ve never seen a variegated currant.
Larry, I don’t know if I read the part of your post about measuring the dilution.
With a steam juicer, the discards are full of condensed steam.
An easy way to discern dilution is to measure the brix, with a refractometer, of the finished juice compared to squeezing a berry. Measuring takes a few seconds. Cleaning it and drying it is the hardest part, that and sometimes getting a drop of juice without making a mess.
Drew, did you have a preference between Allen and Niwot? I have Niwot and enjoy them. They produce large berries that aren’t quite as seedy as my wild black caps. But the taste is probably about the same as my wilds. Is Allen noticably better?
No, I think Niwot is better. Allen died on me. and you know so did Niwot. We seem to have a root rot organism in the area that likes black raspberries. Or some unknown blight? Anyway I have been breeding black raspberries. I found a wild Ontario giant black raspberry and crossed it with Nowot. The Ontario wild is so disease free it’s amazing. It grows year after year after year! I have had it about 6 years now. Check this out!
Oh Jewel also has been doing well here for about 4 years. Seems some blacks like Allen and Niwot are more susceptible to diseases that are in my area. I’m hoping the above cross proves more disease resistant like it’s mother.
My next project is to make a primocane fruiting yellow black cap. I will be back crossing Lynn’s Black to Ontario wild as the yellow is recessive. I hope to make the cross this year.
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You sent me a plant of your yellow a few years back. I thought it died on me during a drought two years ago, but last year it came back and produced fruit for the first time. I’m a fan of it.
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I forgot about that! I have to tip root another for Moose71.
I have 5 people who want Lynn’s Black. I was thinking of doing multiple air layers on a primocane. to try and get more plants. It’s no fun to tip root a primocane fruiting raspberry as you loose the fall crop! Cool it came back, it refuses to die! This yellow/brown cap is a very special plant.
A user from Ontario on Garden Web and F4F was Tyler. He discovered this yellow in the wild, and sent me a plant. Ontario is about 25 miles away from me. Funny most people who think of Canada think North, for me Ontario is actually directly south from here. I consider the plant local.
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Hope you succeed with the air-layering (for selfish reasons 
)!
Has anyone try the Bonnie double dark pink flower Sweet berry strawberry? They advertised as a great sweet tasting berries with ornamental value.
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i think thats what my sister in law planted last year. they had bright pink flowers and great tasting med. berries. they were from Bonnie.
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Finally posted and trellised my Ouchitas. Still need to weed but was proud to get them wired up off the ground. Great first crop so far this year
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Hey Moose,
What zone are you in and are you still growing Austin Dewberry? Liking it?
Excuse me, but can you help me with some Columbia Giant seeds? Please?