Mine are ripening…
They are sweet to me. I don’t have any others to compare to except wild ones. I think they are comparatively sweet to the ones I picked in the woods today.
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Those look delicious. I have one turning black and should be ready soon.
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Hide it from the birds, Bill! I speak from experience on this. 
Katy, some of the things I liked about the ones I’ve eaten are the texture is firmer than wild ones; they don’t have the sourness, and they don’t have the bothersome seediness. That last one is what really impressed me.
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I picked 6-7 today but had to share with family. One was awesomely sweet but it was super ripe. A couple of others were good but they weren’t quite as ripe. They do have a good texture. When you have a sweet blackberry that is big enough for two bites then you can’t ask for much more!
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Picked and sampled four PAF today. These berries are large and the seed seem a little smaller than Natchez and Apache. The taste remind me of the wild ones I picked as a kid. To me they are a little sweeter than the others I have cultivated. I’m not sure yet but they might be ripening two-three weeks earlier than Natchez. Feeling pretty good about PAF.
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In a trade I picked up a recently bought PAF. The guy had a few of them, so it was paid for. I just put it in. I have to tip root a yellow cap, and Marionberry. Marion is the best blackberry I ever tasted. Just hard to grow western thorny, trailing blackberries. Well so is Newberry, PAF sounded like a good one to add. Glad I have a chance to try it!
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Marion sounds like a very good berry. I’m trying out five different thornless blackberries and right now I’m leaning toward keeping Natchez and PAF. Hope you have a good berry season. Bill
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I agree about the taste. They are very close to the wild blackberries that are ripe now. I’ve had some really sweet ones, especially when really ripe, and those not so sweet but they all have a good blackberry flavor.
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Good to know! I have Natchez myself. I only keep it because it’s huge! I have tried
Tayberry.
Loganberry
Wyeberry
Natchez
Triple Crown
Chester
Columbia Star
Navaho
Loch Ness
Black Diamond
Boysenberry thorny
Marionberry
And I’m trialing Siskiyou, Newberry, and Wild Tresure
And so far Marion out does all of them. I still have all growing except Loganberry.
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I want to try this berry, but I can’t help from calling it the Marion Barry Berry, the former disgraced DC Mayor who was RE-elected after a cocaine possession conviction for a 3rd term if I recall…local DC politics weird…
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Yeah bad name! Still I like a lot of the others I’m not removing them either. Marion is not very productive, or hardy, so nothing is perfect.
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Picked these this morning. The PAF has a larger and sweeter berry than my other types. The seed seem to be a little smaller also. Bill
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002 small bush
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Can anyone compare the flavor of PAF to a good trailing western like Marion berry?
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I will next year. Another distinction is if a primocane or a floricane crop? I have A black raspberry whose crops taste different (very good and terrible), so that should be considered too. The Floricane crop is the main crop.
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Not Marionberry but I can compare to Newberry. They are very different, strong raspberry flavor in the Newberry and of course none in the PAF. Newberry is my favorite that I grow. Navaho is 2nd with PAF 3rd or maybe 2b. It is hard for me to rate blackberries because there is so much variability from one fruit to the next on the same plant. Ouachita is my most consistent producer.
Picked today Newberry on left, PAF on right
I agree, my primocane crop is more tart, which I am not a big fan of, prefer a sweet berry. My main problem with the fall crop is leaf footed stink bugs taking over.
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Thank you it sounds like the western trailing are still best. They can be very good and I have several varieties so will probably just stay with that.
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Wow those Newberries look great and I like Tayberries because of the strong raspberry flavor. I will taste Newberry for the first time this summer. I have a small crop on a 2nd year vine.
I have Navaho too, I should get a very large crop, same with Triple Crown, and Boysenberry too.
It’s going to be an exceptional year for brambles for me. My red and yellow raspberries look fantastic, and so do the black raspberries. I have Niwot, Allen, and Jewel. And the Yellow cap black raspberry is going to give me a modest crop too.
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Newberry looks like a great berry especially with a respberry taste. I’m assuming that they are ripening as early as PAF as in your comparison. Do they have an additional late season crop? Do they have thorns? Sorry about all the questions but this looks like it could be a good addition for my place. Thanks, Bill
Newberry is trailing and has thorns, but the are not as bad as my Kiowa, Ark 45 or Prime Jan. Columbia Star I think is very similar but thornless. I would try Columbia Star if you want a raspberry/blackberry hybrid although I can’t verify how well it does in the South. They are not primocane fruiting.
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