Long Cropping Raspberry Collection - D.T.Brown

No plot visit today as rain has stopped play, but during my last visit I marked out the area behind the middle row of beds and established that I will be able to get four narrow 600mm wide fruit beds in what remains of plot 1 as shown above. 

The three 1.2m beds to the right will be for Square Foot Gardening. 

I've been looking trough the Catalogues and have decided on the Long Cropping Raspberry Collection by D.T. Brown. A great value raspberry cane collection, containing 6 canes each of the following three varieties:

Malling Juno (early) - Tasting the first raspberries of the season is always a treat and Malling Juno is one of the best on the market. The medium to large berries have a firm texture and a deliciously sweet flavour - just perfect for eating fresh. The spine-free canes are leafy, easy to handle and prune and, the fruits are well presented, so picking is easy too! Cropping from early to late June (even earlier if grown under cover), plants are known to have excellent disease resistance as well. Bred by East Malling Research.

Tulameen Pearl (mid) - Tulameen Pearl is far superior to the popular Tulameen which D.T Brown have sold in the past. They think this vigorous new strain is a real find and you are sure to agree it’s a winner. It has a high yield with berries which are larger and brighter and the fruit is firmer so keeps better once picked, though we doubt these fruits will last long in any household with a taste like this! 

Polka (late) - A multi-award winner at the National Fruit Show, Polka has exceptional fruit quality and the large, medium red berries are full of fragrant zesty flavour. Bred in Poland with Autumn Bliss as one of its parents, the virtually spine-free raspberry canes will yield double the crop of Autumn Bliss and Polka crops up to 2 weeks earlier, from late July to October. Polka even grows well on less desirable soils. 

D.T Browns specially selected canes are propagated from disease-free certified stock, and the web site informs that they will have well developed root systems when received, so they will establish well and give excellent yield.

Floricane varieties fruit on canes produced in the previous year while Primocane varieties produce fruits on current season growth.

The first-year canes are called primocanes, and these canes, after a dormant or rest period, bloom and fruit the following year. These second-year canes are known as floricanes.

• Sowing & Harvesting

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec

Sow Indoors

 

Sow / Plant Outdoors

 

Flowers / Harvest

 

I'm so looking forward to getting the infrastructure in for these Raspberries, and having a harvest from June to the end of October. My wife and eldest daughter loves them and finally I should be able to supply both of them with ample fruits for a five month period. 

With the beds being 2.4m long and six canes I will place the first and last cane 200mm from the ends and have 400mm between the rest.  

I have room for 4 beds and I'm having a little difficulty deciding what to put in the last bed. Blueberries or yellow or gold Raspberries? any suggestions or recommendations?