Some raspberry TLC for nitrogen deficiency

Yellowing leaves on raspberries

Yellowing leaves are a tell-tale sign of a nutrient deficiency

Having looked back at some photos of my Polka raspberries from last year, I think they have been suffering from a nitrogen deficiency. Not surprising, since I barely remembered to water, let alone feed, the raspberry canes all year. The tell-tale yellowing leaves didn’t have much of a trace of brown in them, which would suggest a magnesium deficiency. Rather, the pinkish hue that crept into some of the leaves made me pin the lacklustre foliage and yields on a lack of nitrogen.

Usually, I start the year off by dressing the ground around the shallow raspberry roots with some compost, followed on with fresh grass clippings to release nutrients and retain water. Having failed to do either last year, this year I need a quick fix (poultry poop, free range from friends’ pet-only homes), followed by a liberal mulching of well-rotted garden compost for a slower-release supply of nitrogen.

Raspberry plants

The raspberries looked a little healthier, but still weak, earlier in the season

If there’s a magnesium deficiency there, half a cup of Epsom salts diluted in a watering can should do the trick.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that a little bit of TLC and a boost in the right nutrients will be just the fix I’m looking for, especially as my mum is ready and waiting in the wings to collect lots of the fruit for her cake baking this year. That’s more than enough motivation in itself to get the plants back in working order!

A taste of the tropical in an English garden

Valentina Raspberries

I swore I was going to stick to what I know this year; tried and tested varieties of fruit and veg, minimise and streamline the amount of work needed to tend to my little edible garden. But when I read a couple of reviews about an unusual variety of raspberry, I couldn’t resist. After all, I had some space going in my newest no-dig plot, so why not?

The Valentina raspberry is a floricane variety, and apparently produces apricot-pink fruits abundantly from June. My older Polka raspberries are primocane, so in the past I have had to wait until the heady summer days of late July and August to enjoy the fruits, and it can feel like an eternity. Now, I’ll have a much longer raspberry-laden season to enjoy.

But it wasn’t the consistently high yields, resistance to pests and diseases or frost hardiness of Valentina that caught my attention – it was the promise of a distinct tropical-like flavour. I’m definitely a fan of heritage varieties of fruit and veg, as some newer varieties do seem to have been developed more for their disease resistance and yield, rather than flavour. But a small army of allotment growers have waxed lyrical about Valentina’s ‘taste of the tropical’ and I wanted to see for myself if the fruits live up to the hype.

Valentina Raspberry

© Marshalls Seeds 2017

I bought six Valentina raspberry canes from Marshalls Seeds* and planted them in alongside my Cambridge Favourite strawberry patch, forgetting that eventually I’ll need supports to tie in the new growth… since this is a floricane (summer fruiting) variety and not an easy-as-pie cut-it-all-back-down-to-the-ground-in-winter primocane raspberry. But I’m sure at some point this summer, I’ll cobble something together to ensure that the new growth is supported and ready for next year.

I’m really looking forward to a taste of the tropical from my little corner of England – just a few more weeks and we should be in business.

*I have not been asked to mention/promote/link to Marshalls Seeds!

Jam Making Part One – Homegrown, Homemade Raspberry Jam

Grow your own raspberries

The raspberries ripened recently (try saying that in a hurry!) so after enjoying a few homegrown-homemade apple and raspberry crumbles, I have been picking the ripe and slightly under-ripe fruits daily for the last few days in preparation for my first ever go at jam making. I’ve been freezing the raspberries each day that I’ve been picking them, and have about enough for 4 jars of jam to start me off. Once I’ve found my feet with jam making I’ll be more inclined to make a bigger batch. Small steps.

I recently found a maslin pan half price at John Lewis, and as it was after pay day I seized the opportunity to get a good quality pan for jam making, preserves and maybe even a few chutneys. Who knows what the future holds!

John Lewis maslin pan

I’ve had my Polka raspberry bushes in for about four years now, and they’re doing very well. They’re an autumn fruiting raspberry that fruit in their first year, so the same year that I planted in the canes, I was able to enjoy the large, fat fruits. They’ve fruited successfully every year since, even when the summer has been a bit dismal and perpetually wet. This summer has delivered on the fruit front and we currently have lots of raspberries still left to fruit, as well as a bumper crop of crab apples. So I’m almost set (jam pun not intended)!

Top Jam Making Tips

I’ve been doing my research ahead of my jam making, and here are a few tips that I’ve found:

  • For a jam to be considered as ‘proper jam’ it needs to have over 60% sugar content
  • Raspberries and other berries can be set with sugar jam (which includes pectin to help the jam set, but apparently it can made a pretty ‘solid’ consistency!)
  • Crab apples have a high pectin content, so are perfect for helping jam to set. We have plenty of crab apples that we can use, so I will be opting for this free jam sugar alternative in the future! There seems to be a lot of debate around this so might take a little experimentation…
  • Jam setting point is 104.5°C. Some jam making stalwarts might not need a thermometer, but I’ll be using one to reduce the likelihood of a failed batch!

I’ll keep you updated on the progress this weekend… wish me luck. This could be the start of a new venture into jams and preserves for me… at least, I hope so!

Fresh raspberries frozen

See how my raspberry jam turned out and get my easy raspberry jam recipe here.