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Author Topic: Bramble/ribe varieties  (Read 4068 times)

Offline kmccaf

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Bramble/ribe varieties
« on: March 05, 2015, 06:15:59 pm »
I am looking at placing an order for some brambles, and was wondering if anyone had specific varieties they liked. Gonna place the order through this place:

 http://noursefarms.com

I am looking to plant raspberries, currants, blackberries, and gooseberries this year.
« Last Edit: March 06, 2015, 06:28:39 am by kmccaf »
Kyle M.

Offline erockrph

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Re: Bramble varieties
« Reply #1 on: March 05, 2015, 07:42:10 pm »
Golden raspberries are a real treat, so that would top my list. I've only grown the Anne variety, but they are great. They have a tart, almost citrusy flavor.

I've tried a few different blackberries, but the only ones that have had really great flavor have been my Boysenberries. Well, those and the wild berries that grow in the woods near my driveway. It's frustrating when the giant blackberry plant in your garden has no flavor, while the little scrub brush on the edge of the woods tastes killer.

For currants I have Red Lake (red), Pink Champagne (pink), and Consort (black). The pink ones have a nice flavor for eating out of hand, like a less-foxy red currant. The Red Lake are ok, but don't blow me away either. The Consort is one of my favorite berries in my yard. It has a great aroma and loads of black currant flavor.

I've had mixed results with my gooseberries as far as plant health goes. The Invicta (green) is really tart, but tastes great and makes a real nice gooseberry pie. I've only gotten berries once in the past 3 years, though - the plant isn't doing too great. Pixwell is a very nice red gooseberry, and has fared the best in my garden. It is really tasty for eating out of hand. It has a sweet, blueberry-like flesh, with that classic tart gooseberry skin. My Hinnomaki Red has yet to produce fruit. It grows like a weed at the start of the season, but then seems to pick up some sort of fungus before it can set fruit. I'm probably going to dig it out this year.

I've had good luck with both Stark Bros and Jung Seeds for my berry plants.
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Offline pinnah

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Re: Bramble varieties
« Reply #2 on: March 05, 2015, 10:35:57 pm »
Cool site with good selection.

I can recommend Heritage raspberries.  Fastastic. 
They are not really a bramble though....tidy. I wack them back to the ground every season.
I have Latham as well but they cannot compete, at my place at least.

I do have a nasty blackberry that is a bramble. Darrow I think.
Has thorns that will snag and gouge even when you think you can whisper by.
Man is it mean.  I really need to get rid of it before it seriously takes over.
I have started some thornless that are beautiful and a dream to get into...and out of!
Excellent fall color.

I have the black raspberry Bristol. Berries are OK.. a little dry but interesting.
Good for staining or dying.  Plants have nice arching architecture.
More of a novelty and not a heavy or repeated producer.

Ribes
I have some red lake reds and goldens but mostly I think
hairy berries with seeds in them
are for the birds.  ;)

Have fun.



Offline kmccaf

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Re: Bramble varieties
« Reply #3 on: March 06, 2015, 06:18:37 am »
Wow. Thanks for the great information!

I think Anne and heritage raspberries are going to get ordered. As well as Pink Champagne ribes.

Good to know about the ones that haven't done well for you. I was looking at that Hinnomaki Red as one that sounded good. I might hold off on ordering a lot of gooseberries. Started thinking about getting elderberries last night. Granted, it's been a long cold winter, and everything in the catalog sounds tasty and fun to take care of. When a 100 of them come in the mail, I might wonder what I was thinking.

The birds will definitely be happy with me.
Kyle M.

Offline pinnah

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #4 on: March 06, 2015, 06:44:50 am »
 :) Another note - Keep in mind that the raspberries will multiply on their own.
In a couple years, you will likely have many runners that can be transplanted.
ie, no need to purchase all that you intend to have, if you have the time to wait.

Elderberry is a good plant.  I am unfamiliar with the two varieties they offer.
I have one I got out of Monrovia and it is a monster. Beautiful big shrub.

I think it is good to experiment and see what will work for you.
Soil, microclimate, aspect.... your farms terrior will dictate what does well.

Yes, planting enough for yourself and the birds is always a good idea.  ;D





Offline kmccaf

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #5 on: March 06, 2015, 07:34:23 am »
:) Another note - Keep in mind that the raspberries will multiply on their own.
In a couple years, you will likely have many runners that can be transplanted.
ie, no need to purchase all that you intend to have, if you have the time to wait.

Elderberry is a good plant.  I am unfamiliar with the two varieties they offer.
I have one I got out of Monrovia and it is a monster. Beautiful big shrub.

I think it is good to experiment and see what will work for you.
Soil, microclimate, aspect.... your farms terrior will dictate what does well.

Yes, planting enough for yourself and the birds is always a good idea.  ;D

You nailed it there. I am really excited to see what the terrior of my farm does with these plants!

 Hopefully it will warm up enough in the next week for me to get some soil samples. The more I think about the elderberries, the more I think I will grow them. I still may get a lot of plants. Thinking about using them as a wind break around the tillable acreage, but need to talk to some folk about that. It was suggested to me as a good idea, but I don't want these to get killed in the cold and wind.
Kyle M.

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #6 on: March 06, 2015, 08:37:53 am »
I wish I could get berries to grow in my yard. Our soil has too much clay and I feel like I'd spend several years developing a fruiting plant just to see bird eat all the berries. We have a problem with locusts rolling in over the summer and if they don't eat my plants then the birds that show up to eat the locusts will eat any fruit I grow.
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Offline pete b

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2015, 11:25:31 am »
We have raspberries, elderberries, gooseberries, cultivated blueberries, wild high bush blueberries and wild blackberries. My favorite are the wild blackberries because you can pick so many so fast. We usually pick 30-50# over a few weeks in August. Berries make dynamite melomels especially the raspberries elderberries and wild blueberries. We supplement our own elderberries by foraging. When they blossom in the early summer their easy to spot so we remember where we found them. Spiced elderberry melomel is a favorite of ours. The blossoms are great in a wheat beer in the summer as well as in cordials and elderflower fizz which my girlfriend makes simply with water, sugar, and elderflowers. There's plenty of yeast to ferment it.
Put a lot of thought into where you plant them. Last year I had to seriously trim back our elders because it was close enough to our garden that it made too much shade (it was 30' tall). Make sure you plant any raspberries and blackberries so that you can mow right up to them or they will take over. I put rows about 8' feet apart, put a tall post at either end of the row and run wire back and forth at a couple different heights to control it and mulch heavily.

I'm looking forward to expanding our orchard this year too.
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Offline pinnah

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #8 on: March 24, 2015, 07:47:46 am »
Hey, so I am trying a little different pruning method on my raspberries.  Since I was so late in pruning, lots of my overwintering canes have green shoots popping out of them.
Normally I cut them near the ground and they make new canes each year for harvest in August to the first freeze.... but I just topped them a bit and left them standing.

Any experience to tell me what to expect out of this?  Will they fruit as normal on second year wood?

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #9 on: March 24, 2015, 10:30:18 am »
Ithought they only fruited on second year canes? or is that blackberries?
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Offline Jimmy K

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2015, 10:55:38 am »
Ithought they only fruited on second year canes? or is that blackberries?
Summer bearing raspberries produce on second year growth. Ever bearing varieties produce on 2nd year growth in the summer and first year growth in the fall. Some people chop them back and go with the fall crop only to keep the plants more manageable.
 
Also - my elderberry is great and has no pest or disease problems. Even the birds leave it alone until the berries are overripe.
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Offline kmccaf

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #11 on: March 24, 2015, 12:37:18 pm »
Pinnah -- I do not have expierence with that. My guess is that you should be fine. Depending on whether or not you have primocane, or summer-bearing. This is the planting guide that Nourse Farms provided which should answer your question:

Fall-Bearing (primocane-bearing, Everbearing)
These varieties can produce two crops. The largest is borne in the late summer and fall on
the tips of canes that grew throughout the summer. A second crop is carried lower on those
same canes early the next summer.
To have two crops, the planting must be pruned as a
summer bearer.
Most ever-bearers will produce the best crop if not allowed to fruit in early summer. To treat
these plants as fall-bearers, mow off all the canes after the canes have lost their leaves in very
late fall, or wait until early spring in colder areas. Be sure to cut the
canes as closely as possible to the soil surface, leaving as little stub
as possible above the ground. The new, strong canes that grow
that summer will bear an abundant fall crop.

Summer-Bearing Raspberries
These varieties carry one crop of berries on the over-wintering canes during the summer
months. For best yields, prune out the canes that carried fruit directly after harvest. Thin
remaining new growth to 6-8 strong, healthy canes per running foot of row.

You can read the rest of the guide here:

http://noursefarms.com/resources/pdfs/planting%20guide.pdf
Kyle M.

Offline kmccaf

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #12 on: March 24, 2015, 12:41:53 pm »
Ithought they only fruited on second year canes? or is that blackberries?

I see Jimmy K answered the first question. Blackberries, like raspberries, can be of the summer-bearing, or primocane (fall-bearing) varieties.
Kyle M.

Offline pinnah

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2015, 02:33:43 pm »
Very cool, thanks for the insight all.

Looking forward to perhaps having some early summer berries then!
Nice planting guide. Thanks

Offline pinnah

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Re: Bramble/ribe varieties
« Reply #14 on: August 31, 2015, 02:16:43 pm »
I did end up with some raspberries on last years canes about the first week in July. Thanks.
  My problem was that I couldn't really find them!  The new canes had grown up above and they were really hard to locate and harvest...I think in the future I will just trim everything back and wait until this time of year for the full harvest.

How are your selections faring?  That thornless blackberry I have is turning out fantastic. Huge berries - nearly a mouthful each!  And long production season...still flowering.  I am done with the thorned variety, now I just have to figure out how to get rid of it!