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Recommendations?

December 16th, 2015

This coming spring/summer I plan on adding raspberry beds to the garden. As I was looking through the Nourse Farms catalog last night, I got to thinking that perhaps you guys might have some recommendations for raspberries with great flavor and great yield. When it comes to soft fruits, sometimes the fruit can be amazing and sometimes simply OK. I have found that we like ‘Sparkle’ strawberries the best and really don’t like our ‘Seascape’ overbearing plants. They will also be replaced next spring with ‘Mara des Bois’ which have been recommended to me by a few people.
Berry Picking 3
Wild_Black_Raspberries
So, do you have any recommendations for soft fruit varieties that you love? I’m particularly interested in raspberries, but I’ll take recommendations for blueberries, strawberries, and any other type of soft fruit.

7 Comments to “Recommendations?”
  1. Deborah on December 16, 2015 at 8:45 am

    We planted the variety “Caroline” when our oldest child Caroline was a few months old. The variety is supposed to have one of the highest antioxidant concentrations. She turns 5 next week, and we’ve been very happy with our patch. The berries are delicious fresh, freeze well, and make great jam. The canes produce two crops. A midsummer crop on last year’s canes, then a later crop that keeps producing a few berries until frost.

    Reply to Deborah's comment

    • Susy on December 17, 2015 at 5:46 pm

      Thanks for the recommendation!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  2. Kathy on December 16, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    I agree with Deborah. Caroline is a great variety and you can’t go wrong ordering from Nourse Farms. I first ordered from them 23 years ago and they have excellent plants and service!

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  3. Carla on December 16, 2015 at 6:22 pm

    I would recommend “Fall Gold” raspberries. Wonderful taste on a late
    bearing cane. I cut them to the ground in late fall and find they do need a bit of staking as I have them in a tight spot. Very few make it into the house. They are my favorite on the spot garden snack.

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  4. Tonya on December 17, 2015 at 10:45 am

    Heritage – tried and true. Fall bearing, hardy (we’re zone 5) great flavor and a good producer requiring little care.

    Reply to Tonya's comment

    • Susy on December 17, 2015 at 5:45 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  5. Allison on December 21, 2015 at 9:07 am

    I planted “Anne” and “Killarney” a few years ago and have been happy with both in terms of flavor/size of fruit (grown here in Cincinnati). I usually eat my small production while I’m gardening, so I can’t attest to jam-worthiness. “Anne” was a first year producer and “Killarney” a second year. I have a small patch along a fence line and the plants are not coddled in the slightest. “Killarney” bounced back from being thoroughly trampled by one of our dogs. “Anne” seems to need more attention than I give it, those plants just haven’t done as well with the combination of abuse and neglect they receive in our yard, and they didn’t quite bounce back from the dog trampling, but for someone more attentive I’m sure they would do well.

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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