(no subject)

[pensnest]

I picked raspberries for Grandpa today. It turns out that the fruit cage is basically a raspberry jungle, *so* many young canes which, of course, are not carrying any tasty fruit. Got a reasonable bowlful, and I think I have persuaded him to eat them fresh with cream rather than adding Too Much Sugar and cooking them—which is a crime, unless you are making jam, which I don't think he can do.

Also came upon a blackcurrant bush amidst the raspberries, and picked a goodly crop from that. We had them for lunch, cooked briefly with a little sugar and ginger, and poured over ice cream. I don't know quite what to do with the raspberry canes now, though. They are rampant!

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Beast and I have been watching 'Slings and Arrows' on YouTube. Which is delightful! I'd had it on my Amazon wishlist for a while but to no avail, and it's great to be able to see the series. It was somewhere in episode 3 that I began to laugh aloud at the antics, and I thoroughly enjoyed the final episode of that season. Interesting that season 2 begins exactly where season 1 left off, and changes cast later on.

And how nice it is to see someone who is *incredibly* pretty playing a part in which that prettiness just doesn't matter.

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Went outside to sort out the compost bins. I managed to remove half the black plastic lining of one without much difficulty, and have put the small amount remaining in that bin into the wheelbarrow for now. But when I started to move the stuff from the adjacent bin into the newly freed one, three wasps stung me inside a minute, so I retreated. I have zinging red marks on left wrist, right upper arm, and belly. Woe!

Comments

[dine]

we had a row of raspberry bushes (supported by some fencing) and I remember dad cutting them back pretty drastically - but not when they're fruiting. I'm no gardener, so don't know the proper season to do it, but bet you can find out. cutting back some of the growth shouldn't harm them or affect production for the next season

[pensnest]

It can wait a little while, anyway - I'm not sure that I got all the fruit or if there will be more later in the season! But I think they're proving pretty tough so far.

[manna]

Decide where you want the raspberries to be next year, then prune this year's new canes such that you have about 8 canes per plant (choose the strongest, prune the excess down to the ground). It's best if you can tie them in to some kind of support. Once the raspberries have finished fruiting this year, you can cut the old canes down to the ground. Next year's raspberries will grow on the canes that sprouted this year. (This year's canes will be greener and softer. Last year's will have a browner, more woody looking central stem, and will have the fruit on them.)

The above is for summer fruiting raspberries only. Autumn fruiting raspberries (aka primocane raspberries) will bear fruit on canes that have sprouted THIS year. If you have any of those, you can cut all the canes down to the ground after they've fruited.

[pensnest]

Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether it'll be up to me what happens with the raspberries - I keep offering to help FIL with the gardening but he mostly doesn't seem to want anyone else to do it. However, I appreciate the advice. It's all made more blooming awkward by being inside the fruit cage so that anyone in there has to contend with having a net on your head as you work. Sigh.

Raspberries are, though, worth some effort.

[frausorge]

Ooh those wasp stings sound painful! I hope you get some relief soon.

[pensnest]

They aren't painful any more but they are driving me mad because they itch so much! Gah!

[turps]

I'd love to grow soft fruits, sadly our garden is so small it would be impossible.

But raspberries with cream sound delicious.

[pensnest]

Raspberries may well be my favourite fruits. I used to help my grandma pick her raspberries, and always nibbled a few of them as I went along the rows. My FIL has the unfortunate habit of adding loads of sugar and cooking them then freezing them, which I always think sad.

[brandywine28]

The very idea of wasp stings is *almost* enough to quell my raging gardening envy. (I say "almost", because -- raspberries!)

But, omg, I'm so sorry-slash-horrified that that happened to you! Are you icing them??

[pensnest]

The raspberries, fortunately, are out of range of the wasps. I think there may be a wasps nest in the compost bin, which is infuriating! I am horribly itchy from the blighters *and* I cannot move the compost into the carefully-emptied bin. It is most annoying! Thanks for the suggestion of icing them, it helps.

[turlough]

Fresh, handpicked raspberries are SO GOOD and yes, cooking them would certainly be a crime! (Since it's almost impossible to get hold of fresh blackcurrants here unless you have your own garden, I envy you those much more than the raspberries however :-)

Oh no! One was sting is bad enough, I don't even want to think of getting three of them at the same time! I see from comments that they're still itching but hopefully that too will soon be over.

[pensnest]

I'm not as keen on blackcurrants, but I must admit that having them warm with ice cream was very agreeable indeed.

Nasty little striped buggers! I still itch a bit, though it is improving.