Thanks so much for telling me @Antmary and Drew. I guess there just isn’t a good answer.
I’m growing the raspberries to pick and have my Mom take to work to sell them. I have no intention of removing them, but darnit.
Dax
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I change my opinion of Chester. I just ate two that are delicious. My plant is young and this is the first year for fruit and the first few I ate while dark purple tasted like sour water. These two were quite delicious.
Dax
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my 5 baby cakes are about 2ft. now. slow to establish like most blackberry. i should have some berries next summer. ill post how they taste on here. fedco carries nelson thats hardy to zone 4 but is thorny… i planted some darrow in my raised beds. they’re supposed to be marginally hardy in zone 4. probably need to cover in straw this fall.
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Thank you, Moose. I really value your opinion about Baby Cake.
Dax
P.s. Love to see pics of those. And if you have photos of the plants you received from wherever you bought those. Thanks a lot!
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When I think about it, my first year Chester were not great, it’s not the best taste, but the longer it hangs, the better it becomes.
Also going out right now, I think I like Triple Crown better than Lochness, at least this year. So I change my mind earlier when i said the opposite. I just tasted both.
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ill see if i can get sharon to post some pics. I’m terrible with computers 
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I have a chester here in 5b. It’s planted a foot or two from the house and the leaves stay green and don’t fall off until Jan. This is year 2 or 3? and it’s finally taking off and setting some fruit.
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I live in Z4b with very dry and windy Summers and Winters. I have a patch of TC’s and they have done well for me. This past winter it got down to -30 and I lost all the canes so they started over from the crowns. I do not cover them but should. Just the chance I have to take here. For the past couple weeks its been upper 90’s and near 100 with 15% humidity and windy. Forest fires all around and smokey skies already and it’s really not officially fire season yet.
I planted 3 PAF’s this spring and only time will tell and if Mother Nature isn’t to harsh. Where does a guy get some of the Lochness varieties?
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I am pretty sure my blackberries are the Chester variety (got my plants from a friend.)I am in 5B. We got down to -10 a couple times last winter and I was worried as mine are in a pretty exposed location. A little bit of die back, but not nearly as bad as I had expected. I have found Chester to be as described. Pretty tart even when almost completely black, then they hit that sweet spot just before the begin to break down from being over ripe and they are very good!
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I think Raintree and One Green World sells them, maybe Berries Unlimited too. I would offer, but hard to root tip, and I need to do two for others.
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No problem. just didn’t know if they were readily available or not. I will check those folks out. Thanks!
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problem for me is even if they produce on primocanes , the season isnt long enough for them to ripen before frost kills them. i tried PAF and they grew like mad but fruit didn’t have time to ripen so i yanked them. hoping these baby cakes produce well. if they do I’m going to start a new patch with the shoots. those cold ,dry montana winds must be hell on your plants, esp. with not much snow cover. I’ve had dieback above the snowliine on z3 hardy plants due to -30f temps with 15-20mph winds bringing the windshield factor down to -70!
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I noticed with raspberries, red and black, primocane fruiting aka everbearing, at first ripening, it is very late. It seems to adjust. Every year mine seem to ripen earlier. I have primocanes fruiting now. Very strange. I bet the PAF would do the same, ripening earlier the 2nd year, and so on. I think this year is unusual, it is my 6th or 7th year with raspberries. And all seem to ripen on time now, although continue to fruit till frost,
With primocane fruitng black raspberries, if you top them at 2 feet it delays ripening, but you get more clusters, 2-4 clusters a cane.
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This gardening thing in my neck of the woods a crap shoot most years. I had Peaches last year but the late frosts got all my blossoms this year. On a positive note my Raspberries and Strawberries had a good year. My TC’s did have some blossoms on the new canes but just a few. Hopefully when the rest of my hedge gets big enough it might stop the Ole North Wind some.
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Someone tell me which cultivar PAF is.
Speaking of strawberries I always hear how that French cutlivar Mara Des Bois is one of the best. Three or four yeas ago I did a blind exchange on GW and was sent pineberry seeds. I love them. Even though they’re small, they pack a wonderful flavor.
Dax
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prime ark freedom is a blackberry cultivar.
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Thank you, moose.
Dax
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crap! wish i knew that before this spring. I’m still getting a occasional shoot trying to come up. been pinching them off. you think i should let them grow? my last danger of frost is june 10 . first is sept 14.
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Yes, give it another chance, and see if it can adapt, it may not! But the price is right for trying, unless you really need the space. I don’t have PAF and not sure it will behave like raspberries do, but it is the same genus, they should.
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ok . ill let them grow. the 1st. year i planted them they put out 8ft. canes with some fruit! very vigorous! got some darrow started in there so ill let them grow together. going to cut the primocanes in early spring as they die to snow line over winter. see how it goes . they’re in a 4’ by 12’ raised bed.
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