Topic: What soft fruit should I get?

[Silverleaf]

So I'm thinking of getting a few fruit bushes and I'm getting a bit overwhelmed with all the different varieties that are available. So can anyone recommend anything good?

I already have: summer-fruiting raspberries, a loganberry and a somewhat neglected blackcurrant and redcurrant in the orchard (I don't really like currants though). I also have one blueberry plant in a pot (didn't know I had acid soil until recently) and quite a lot of wild brambles.

I know I definitely want: an autumn-fruiting raspberry (the yellow ones look fun), gooseberries, and a few more blueberries.

What else should I consider?

[Ellen K]

I've got the Autumn fruiting raspberry All Gold and tbh it's a bit disappointing compared to the others I've got which are Autumn Bliss and Joan J.  AB is hard to beat though.

[Silverleaf]

What didn't you like about All Gold?

[Tee Gee]

What didn't you like about All Gold?

I find them a bit bland and a bit tasteless compared to those with a more traditional raspberry flavour!

[Silverleaf]

What didn't you like about All Gold?

I find them a bit bland and a bit tasteless compared to those with a more traditional raspberry flavour!

Okay, I'll rule that one out. I like my raspberries flavourful and on the sharp side.

[markfield rover]

I have just dug up all my yellow rasps , as above I found them tasteless compared with Autumn Bliss. I also like a red gooseberry for flavour.

[Silverleaf]

Autumn Bliss is sounding good. Shame, because the yellow ones look amazing.

I have no idea what my summer rasp is. Pretty sure I bought it cheap from Wilko or Lidl or somewhere like that and it was a while ago and I have completely forgotten.

[Digeroo]

I prefer joan j and polka for autumn.  But I agree about the yellow ones rather disappointing.  Though joan is a bit rampant.

If you like different colours, I like valentina which is a summer raspberry has pink fruit nice taste though.

What about strawberries, my favourites are Cambridge favourite, marshmello, vibrant and malling centenary.  If you like them sweeter then try something else.

Do you count rhubarb?   I like timpani early because it crops when nothing much else is around.

[Silverleaf]

I saw some black rasps which look exciting! And pink ones sound fun too. ;)

Hadn't really thought about strawberries. I do like them but I've never grown them and they sound like they might involve a lot more work. And it's slug city around here so I'd be fighting a losing battle with the slimy gits...

Rhubarb, I forgot that. There's an old clump of it that was here when we bought the house 11 years ago and since the previous owner wasn't a gardener I suspect the original owners who lived here before them planted it. It's pretty weak and pathetic-looking but I'm trying to coax it back to health with manure, weeds and grass clippings.

[chriscross1966]

Bit hard to beat Autumn Bliss for an autumn rasp... Tulameen is pretty good as a summer one too..... If you want a gooseberry that you can eat raw then Hinnomaki Red is great, and frequently in Lidl/Aldi too, ditto Hinnomaki Yellow........you could look at a fig perhaps?

[squeezyjohn]

If you can get them to work in your area ... blueberries are amazing fresh from the bush.

I did the massive ground work of completely changing the soil pH in a strip of my allotment (which is on pH 7 sandy loam over clay subsoil) ... I had to do lots of preparation with Sulphur chips and then ericacious compost on top and a mulching of gathered pine needles ... but it has paid off!  It's the first time I've ever seen vigorous healthy green blueberry bushes in our area and they're growing really well.  I took all the blossoms off this year to give them a chance to establish without fruiting - but the few that slipped through the net were delicious.

If you have an acid soil then you are lucky enough to be able to plant these amazing fruit without all that rigmarole!

[Silverleaf]

Hmm, a fig's not a bad idea. How big do they get?

My soil's described as "slowly permeable seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soil", but I'm not sure exactly how acid. Might have to test it some time. It's horrible heavy stuff but I'm slowly incorporating manure.

[Paulh]

Joan J is a prolific fruiter and a bit vigorous. I'm happy with it! The yellow raspberries (and other colours) are in my opinion good only if served with the normal fruit - they then enhance each other. It's the same for odd-coloured carrots. Yellow courgettes are OK if served with other green veg. I digress but the point is - the odd coloured varieties of raspberry are expensive so be sure you want them!

[chriscross1966]

Hmm, a fig's not a bad idea. How big do they get?

My soil's described as "slowly permeable seasonally wet acid loamy and clayey soil", but I'm not sure exactly how acid. Might have to test it some time. It's horrible heavy stuff but I'm slowly incorporating manure.

Umm... small-medium sized tree if you let them though they respond well to pruning, so you should aim for a large bush small tree sort of size eventually... can take 3 or so years to start cropping, but whenever I eat one from my friends tree it always makes me think that you can't possibly row something that exotic in this country.... they like some shelter and/or a south facing wall, but that's about it, they're pretty hardy... if you've got naturally acid soil then blueberries might be worth a go, homegrown is lovely soft fruit, the supermarkets should be banned form selling something that bad that they label as blueberries...