Raspberries!

Today we bought raspberry canes from the garden centre and I’m thrilled. They are currently on my middle balcony enjoying the seaview.

We had two raspberry canes on plot one but sadly they died last year so it was time to replace them. We bought 6 canes, to start with, and this time we plan to plant them on the orchard plot.

We have bought two varieties

• Malling Jewel AGM: This is an early to mid season summer fruiting variety. Whilst vigourous, it’s fairly compact. It only spreads 10cm to 50cm, although it can grow up to 2 metres high.  It produces dark red fruit with excellent flavour, but fruit production isn’t abundant. This variety is a summer fruiting variety, known as floricane meaning that the fruit will be produced on the previous years canes.
• Tulameen: This is a mid to late season cultivar. Bred in British Columbia from a ‘Glen Prosen’ cross. It has large, deep pink conical shaped fruit that taste deliciously sweet. This variety is a primocane, meaning fruit will be produced on this years cane. It is easy to grow, and extremely hardy. It has pretty white star shaped flowers in the summer followed by an abundance of fruit late summer. It has a long picking season from mid-July to mid-August.

Now to get that raspberry bed ready!