I forgot to take a container to the allotment to pick autumn raspberries which are going mad at the moment. I filled our tea mugs with enough for after dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow and will have to go down again tomorrow to pick more. They need picking quickly once they’re ripened but freeze easily - I have about 10lbs in the freezer already and have been eating them every day for at least a fortnight.
Autumn raspberries are better than summer raspberries on an allotment as they are lower maintenance. They fruit on the same year’s growth so the stems are cut down to the ground when they’ve finished fruiting. Summer raspberries fruit on the second year’s growth, so the long stems stay in the ground all winter and need supporting on posts and wires, otherwise they get blown all over the place. Our allotment is on an exposed west facing hill so wind is a real problem.
The variety here is Autumn Bliss - they usually start fruiting late July and can keep going through to October. This year, like most things, they were a few weeks later. I grown lots of strawberries and blackcurrants too, so growing autumn raspberries means there’s a continuous succession of fresh fruit from June through to the autumn. The fruit of this variety is especially big and dark and has a superb flavour. I’ve made raspberry vinegar and even a liqueur when I’ve had a glut. I’m going to try bottling some next weekend.
