Raspberries

nowIamone · #1 09-03-2007, 11:28 AM

Years ago (9+/-) I planted two rows of raspberries at our old house which burnt the winter after we planted the berries. Yesterday morning I was at the site and saw the raspberries were ripe and there t worthwhile to pick. This was a bit of a surprise as the site isn't watered, and very overgrown now. We had planted in native topsoil, they have never been fertilzed with the exception of the first year.

I spent the afternoon picking berries, came home and baked a pie. The filling was bitter, not sour, bitter. So my question is, " Can you alter the taste of the berries? Can it be the soil, can I add something to change that?

DC Sunshine · #2 09-03-2007, 06:29 PM

Not sure what you can do about changing the taste.

Were the berries perhaps under/over-ripe? I know there's a saying about blackberries in England that there comes a day when the blackberries turn horrible. they say its the day "The devil p***es on the blackberries"

Pardon my language. But maybe the same happens with raspberries.

AndyG · #3 09-03-2007, 07:43 PM

There was no insect problem, was there? I won't share my cauliflower experience here

DC Sunshine · #4 09-03-2007, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyG

There was no insect problem, was there? I won't share my cauliflower experience here

Oh yes you will...... what hapn?

AndyG · #5 09-03-2007, 10:00 PM

Um cauliflower tasted really funny

When I realized why, made sense but I wasn't laughing at the funny taste lol Laughing now tho. There were green larvae on it. I had been eating them too

canadiangirl · #6 09-03-2007, 10:30 PM

So sorry Andy. Try thinking the way my sweet (dearly departed )grandmother did. One day when I was a kid she was eating an apple. All of a sudden she bit into (& in half) a worm. I said "gross!" But she didn't spit it out. She said "Honey, it's only protein." & continued to finish that apple

!!!!! She was the best.

AndyG · #7 09-03-2007, 10:34 PM

ew at least the larvae i ate were cooked lol

DC Sunshine · #8 09-03-2007, 11:57 PM

omg....icky! But yes it is protein...and they'd been well fed on some nice healthy cauliflower I guess...oh yuk lol

Luc_H · #9 09-04-2007, 09:17 PM

NowIamone,

here is something on bitter tasting raspberries. It seems to be attributed to unripe fruits.

::: HARVEST SCHEDULE :::

(My fall raspberries are barely turning red... yum!)

Luc H.

nowIamone · #10 09-05-2007, 11:53 AM

I found a gardner's web forum last night that had over forty posts on bitter raspberries. Most were from Canada, they were posted with follow ups over 4-5 years. No definitive answers, many reports of it just happening; and the berries would be fine the next year. I didn't even see a common weather or water issue; or age of the plant issue.

Some mulched with maple leaves to insure it wouldn't happen; but we don't have maples here in Alaska.

The berries were very ripe, I would have had 20% more by picking a few days early, as so many fell to the ground when the plant was touched. I have another small picking left, probably ripe in a week or so.

Luc_H · #11 09-05-2007, 02:09 PM

nowIamone,

i went raspberry picking today in my small patch in the backyard. For curiosity sake I tasted truly unripe berries and I don't think I can describe the taste as bitter but rather bland, tart or acidic.

You convinced me that you can make the difference between ripe and unripe and that the berries you picked felt genuine and ready.

that said, I wonder what would have done that? A disease? Old canes making new fruits? A pest?... I also wonder how the next picking will taste like.

Luc H.

nowIamone · #12 09-05-2007, 02:48 PM

Luc,

I originally was looking for an easy answer, "add lime, or add potash."
It seems a little more complex than that, after I read the garden web posts. The posting were very matter of fact with a "sometimes that happens." Maybe it's a characteristic of the plants to have a bitter year, and I suppose it's possible since all plants were planted at the same time, but 25% of the plants were gold raspberries, so I would think they wouldn't be the same as the other plants.
That leads me to think weather, water, or soil, but I don't have it figured out yet. I will be watching the rest develope and ripen.

Luc_H · #13 09-05-2007, 03:03 PM

Usually anything botanical, KYHeirloomer usually can give insight.
Hopefully he will see these comments.

Luc H.

KYHeirloomer · #14 09-06-2007, 11:30 AM

Luc, what I know about growing berries (or any fruit, for that matter) can be writting on the back of a matchbook with a grease pencil.

Now, ask me something about heirloom beans.....

Luc_H · #15 09-06-2007, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nowIamone

Luc,

I originally was looking for an easy answer, "add lime, or add potash."

in light of the fact KYH can't help here, NowIanone, I may suggest this:
try lemons instead of adding lime
and
another illicit drug combination may be better then pot & (h)ash.

(bad jokes!)

Luc H