Thursday December 15, 2005

Raspberries in December

So half of the second plot I took over a few months ago is dug over and the first section of it is already used. I wanted to grow raspberries but the season can be short. New varieties have been developed to extend the season in particular having plants that fruit on this years canes. Usually they fruit on last years canes. So I ordered three varieties carefully chosen to give me a long season.

The canes need securing too wires to protect them from the wind. Six feet is about as high as they get but my posts are a bit higher than that as I hope to use them to support netting to keep the birds away from my precious fruit. There is about five feet between each row and the plants about eighteen inches away from their neighbour. The plants as delivered were bare rooted and I wanted to get them in the ground as soon as possible. The top most part of the root does not want to be any deeper than two inches - these plants are not deep rooting. This causes another problem. As you weed with a hoe or similar tool you stand a good chance of snagging a part of the root system and damaging it. So my cunning plan is to use a lining material to keep the weeds at bay. The problem with doing this is it needs to be secured properly and also as raspberries like a good amount of manure every year I will have to lift this lining before spreading the manure. A trick with posts and wire. A top 'beam' of wood holds the posts apart so you can tighten the wire properly. If you do not use my beam idea all that happens when you tighten the wire is the posts are dragged closer together... The lining is held in place with old bricks I ha d ying around and the edges are buried into the ground. I won't be able to allow the canes to produce fruit next year - so my first crop will be in the summer of 2007.