Last year we were given a bucket full of raspberry canes by my top gardening guru buddy Kylie. We planted them, built a frame for them to grow up, nurtured them, ate about 6 of them and then watched the birds devour them. Like fools we left if far too late to net them and when we did our netting was draped too close to the fruit so the pesky birds just helped themselves.
This year we were better prepared and they are literally caged in. BH constructed the Fort Knox of fruit netting to keep the birds out and the fruit in. This has also stopped my lovely children from munching them all - its almost stopped us all as its quite a task to get into it - but its definitely doing the job, and now we have Razzers raring to go!
Fingers crossed we're going to have a better crop. I wish we'd planted some autumn canes as well now, but theres always more you can do in the garden isn't there? For now I'm just thankful that these little beauts look like they might make back to the house!
If anyone has any tips for maximising raspberry crops i'm all ears - we cant get enough of them...
great blog... I love all your home grown stuff... i'm rowing some in my garden but I think I have to triple my effort for next year to get a bumper crop!
ReplyDeleteI've got a few canes which are in containers at the moment, I still haven't got round to getting them in to the allotment, ooops. I think you've done the most important thing to maximise your crop, netting is essential as you found out to your cost, birds love those raspberries more than we do.
ReplyDeletethanks belleaukitchen - I agree about tripling the effort, im definitely planting more out next year. Why do we always have a glut of courgettes and a rationing of raspberries, its not fair!
ReplyDeleteHi Jo - getting them in the plot is definitely the big step (it took me a year to get round to sorting the frame our properly!) My plot is beginning to look like an art installation of a garden wrapped in netting cos im determined to beat the pigeons!
ReplyDeletemmm. delicious.
ReplyDeleteI love raspberries! I don’t have any tips for maximizing the crops, as I don’t work too much around mine.
ReplyDeleteYou have a lovely blog!
Hi FRG - Thanks for visiting our blog and leaving a lovely comment.
ReplyDeleteWe have to be fast with the netting on our redcurrants or the birds strip the plants.
I guess you know about pruning raspberries but one other tip is for raspberries that grow fairly tall - if you bend over and tie down the tops that vigour is supposed to go into fruit production. It worked in some old canes we used to have in our garden. I have a feature on pruning rasps from the website linked to my blog. It's in the Growit section
Hi - nice to meet you (on my blog!) We never grew raspberries until I took over our allotment last year - we have autumn and summer rasps. They like lots of water - and can cope with shade. They are woodland plants really. Mulch and water (oh, and keep the birds off - but you knew that!)
ReplyDeleteHey there, thanks for visiting my blog and introducing me to yours. Like you, I used to loathe beetroot until I started growing it last year and now love it! Have you tried chocolate beetroot cake? (Recipe on my blog and storing tips coming soon - needed after our glut last year.) I'm enjoying reading through your blog and will be back. Good luck with the battle against the pigeons! I think netting is the way to go with garden pests.
ReplyDeleteHi Chasity thanks for visit ing the blog - glad i could wet your appetite!
ReplyDeleteHi Vrtlarica, thanks for dropping in, since we wrote this our crop has boomed so maybe less is more!
Hi Greenlane - Lovely to see you here - I love your blog and your growing tips, to be honest Im relying on your pruning tips to show me what to do!
ReplyDeleteHi VegHeaven- thanks for dropping in. Like you we were razzer newbies. I didnt realise there was so much construction involved in gardening until we grew raspberries but now the frame is up and fully functional its going quite well - so far! I didnt know they were woodland plants though thanks :)
Hi Carolyn thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment, Im definitely up for trying beetroot cake, it sounds great! You're so right about the pigeons, the one thing i didnt net off was my gooseberries and guess what - gone!
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