My raspberries are sporadic in producing

[sleepyowl]

My raspberries are sporadic in producing which is frustrating I take it it is because this is my first year of them, but I can't do anything with them I wanted to make jam

[Annpan]

If you are going to make jam you can freeze them, give them a good wash and pop them in old margarine tubs - this means that you can guestimate what weight that you have. You can do this for most berries. Then if you only get one tub of raspberries but 3 of black berries you can mix them for a jam.

Or you could pop them into smoothies or something else.

Are your bushes new this year too? I have read that for most fruit bushes you ought not to expect a 'crop' for the first year (or 3 years for fruit trees)


My big sporadic problem is with strawberries, I only get 1 or 2 at a time, but they crop from May through to October, strawberries don't freeze and I loose many because I am waiting for others to ripen

[Jandra]

I always freeze my strawberries! No problem, as long as you don't count on doing anything else with them but cook/make jam. Works great, have done this for 3 years now.

Just pick, clean and chuck in freezer. You can also cook them a bit and then freeze them.
Make jam at your own convenience. We're currently eating second-flush-flowering strawberries (ostara). Not enough for jam, but great for in the yoghurt twice a week.

Good luck, Jandra

[sleepyowl]

they are new to my garden but they were given to me from a friend of my dad's who had too any of them but I am getting 2 at a time which is hugely annoying

[Annpan]

Thanks Jandra

Sleepyowl - that is frustrating, perhaps it is just not a good year for them fingers crossed for next year.

[pumpy]

Hi Sleepyowl, could be your soil type is too alkaline, apparently soft fruits prefer more acidic stuff.(while vegs prefer more limey stuff). If this is the case, do you know anyone with a coal fire? The ashes from this will provide the necessary additive.

[Millymollymandy]

It's their first year so that's why you don't have much fruit! You have to be patient. If they are summer fruiting raspberries you shouldn't really expect a crop the first year as they fruit on the stems that are produced the year before, but perhaps given the time of year you have the autumn fruiting ones, which will bear fruit the first year, only not very many because the plants are young.

How many plants do you have? I have plenty to eat but with 3 summer croppers and 3 autumn ones there is never enough to make jam from, from one or two pickings. I'd have to freeze them if I wanted enough for that.

I weigh fruit before I freeze it so when it comes time to defrost them to make jam/jelly I know I've got the right weight and don't have to guesstimate with defrosted fruit.