Why I like growing autumn fruiting raspberries.
The autumn raspberries are different to the summer fruiting ones.
They grow in a different way in that you can cut the canes right back to the ground when they have finished fruiting. You can do this every year with autumn fruiting raspberry canes and you will still get a crop next year. They will flower and fruit on that year's canes that have grown up in the spring and summer months.I prefer the taste of them too. I am never sure if it is because they appear and ripen at this time of year when there is less fruit available on the allotment. No rivals you see to the joy of eating home grown berries. The summer ones have to vie for attention with the strawberries and other summer fruits. While the autumn raspberries only have the wild blackberries and the apples to compete with. They are no real rivals as they compliment each others flavors wonderfully when cooked up together.
The autumn fruiting raspberry canes are easy to plant and to grow. The only bad thing I can think of about them is that they can and will go a bit rampant if you do not keep them in check. Yes they can be a bit wild and spread but they are not as difficult to dig out or control as say blackberry plants.
Picking the raspberries can be a bit of a game on a breezy day as the canes sway and the fruit hides beneath the leaves. I cannot complain though, as soon as I pick the ripe ones a day or two later there are more to be gathered. Those little red berries manage to ripen without the heat of the summer sun and I think they are more tasty as a result.
