Got my butt up at 5 30 this morning to pick berries. I’m going to make raspberry ice cream for my daughter’s birthday this weekend. Blackberries are just starting. I think this is my 6th container of blueberries.
First sun gold tomatoes.
My family agrees, the berries are the best!
Just tried a couple AC Valley Sunset strawberries that I let ripen. They weren’t 100% ripe but I wanted to get them before the birds did. Still, pretty good flavor. Not as intense as Flavorfest or Earliglow, but it wasn’t 100% ripe either. They are quite large compared to the Flavorfest, Earliglow, and Jewel I had. I’m happy I got the plant. AC Valley Sunset is shy with runners like my Earliglow is. Flavorfest and Jewel runner profusely.
got some AC wendy starting to color now. anxious to try them. mara des bois and evie 2 will be producing soon after them. pineberry are struggling. ate a bowl of indigo gem/ treat haskap with some sugar and cream. was fantastic!
Hm, in my experience, EG suckers like crazy and Jewel not so much. It actually crowded out Jewel in my patch. Or maybe Jewel didn’t survive the winter as well.
I planted Flavorfest this year, so no real idea about it.
A 4ft foot Ouachita primocane got broken off this evening due to a storm blowing through, none of the other plants seem to be damaged. This is a reminder for me to get that trellising up.
We’ve been picking a few Traveler berries every day, just a couple of Ouachita and Osage berries so far. The Osage seemed to have the better flavor of the three varieties.
Really? Jewel is definitely producing a lot of runners for me. I think @mamuang had the same experience when she planted them side by side, if memory serves me correct. She’s not too far from me so maybe it’s something about the environment here.
I planted both of them side by side. After 3 years, EG has run rampant. Jewel has been squeezed by its neighbor.
@subdood_ky_z6b best described the differences in shape of EG and Jewel. That has helped recognize how far EG has ventured into Jewel’s side. It’s far.
As for taste, I can’t tell anymore because we had a lot of rain last year when Jewel tasted better. We had a lot of rain this year, too, but between the two rain-soaked berries, EG tasted better (but still diluted by rain).
I put in Mara de bois this spring. Its first year fruit had nothing to write home about. I assume rain had a lot to do with it.
They were definitely labeled EG and Jewel. Maybe a mislabel, but my “EG” definitely tastes better than my “Jewel” does. Weird.
“rampant” describes the runnering of EG very well
I really must have something else. All the strawberries are planted alongside the walls on the sides of my driveway, with my “Jewel” and “Earlyglow” at the ends — both getting the most sun. With “Jewel” runnering like crazy and “Earlyglow” shy. The “Earlyglow” is definitely a more intense berry than the “Jewel” is. Now I’m going to have to look at Indiana Berry’s website to see what they could have possibly mixed mine up with.
Like @mamuang says, the difference in size and shape makes EG and Jewel easy to tell apart. EG usually is smaller and looks like it has a small neck to its top. Plus, it has tasted sweeter than Jewel, and starts earliest. But either way, they’re both good berries.
I’ll have to take pictures of them sometime. I’m happy with the berries, but I’d like to know what I have.
tried my 1st mara des bois. not anything spectacular but its the 1st berry. my AC Wendy should be the next one to start to ripen. got a handful of indigo treat. different than indigo gem. has a woodsy taste to it. pretty good fresh but not as good as aurora.
My Traveler primocanes that I topped last month have developed laterals, and today I noticed they’re starting to produce some fruit buds.
It also seems that the tipped Freedom primocanes have the beginnings of some buds as well on their laterals.
Had a bunch of ripe black raspberries that i picked…about a cookie sheet full (that will be frozen). One thing i’m seeing too much of is SWD. Any berry that was soft had active little worms inside. I counted 4 in one fruit. One of them was big enough to probably catch panfish with 
This is just so maddening. Anyone have luck with any of the sprays or just eat and forget about it? I know i’ve ate worse! Little bug protein never hurt anyone. I more or less gave up on fall raspberries because of SWD…and now i can’t even make it through these without them invading. I thought winter would have helped…it didn’t.
All of my Kiwi Gold, Jewel, and Caroline are loaded this summer. I’m just not sure that I will have my house long enough to taste them. Also my Ouachita blackberries are either fruiting or have blossoms. Huge crop this year. I will miss it! Darn! All great delicious tasting berries!
I hope whoever bought your house appreciates fresh fruit off the trees and realizes how much care that has gone into raising them. I’d be heartbroken to leave my yard behind as it is today and right now it’s not really all that fruitful!
That’s not good. When was SWD coming in for you in the past? Here in southern Connecticut it’s been early August since they first started appearing, I think in 2012.
At least 3 years…i only read about them on here i think and i started looking and finding them in fall raspberries. I set some traps out last year with acv and caught a bunch…so there are plenty around. Throw in all the dead ash trees…i saw my first Japanese Beetle yesterday… Maybe i need to just eat bugs
They also infest the yellow/gold type raspberries…they are not immune.
What I meant was how early were they appearing year to year? July 5th seems pretty early for zone 4 considering I was under this apparent misconception that they would migrate north over the season from areas that aren’t as cold as mine.
As far as bugs go here, I did my first after-dark trip to the garden of the year to pick Asiatic Brown Beetles from my basil last night. They love basil and will completely destroy it if I let them. Sunflower and roses, which I’m happy to dust with poison, seem to be acting as good crops for them but I still have to go out and hand pick.
