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brambles, how are yours?
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dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46218
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 18 10:09 pm    Post subject: brambles, how are yours? Reply with quote
    

i know this could also go in forage but i have a managed bramble perimeter to the yard so mine get watered and fed and pruned for fruit but they only have a limited root space with competition in a deep raised bed of home made soil with a slot to the urban sub concrete clay

it seems a good year, today was first proper pick, i took about 4kg off 8m linear, the next harvest will be twice that and depending on weather might be a week or so

i must have a look at the other side of the wall.

good quality / super quality was evens by wt which is excellent with very few

as it is now that season how do you rate this years crop where you are ?

the wild ones round here were looking a bit thin and dry which is normal for york ,i still have not found a really nice wild patch although ours were originally bird sown and produce ace fruit ( unless it is cold and damp ) .

i know it is super fed soil ( how many guinea pigs ? and lots of other stuff ) which normally would be better spread out but the area is tight and the aspect is W line N face on the inside ,half between houses so making barbed wire with bonuses seems a good idea.

as more things get introduced and established the more wildlife shows up for dinner. overall a nice use of a darkish narrow space and some wall tops.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15972

PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Ours are doing well in the garden. The bit of rain over the weekend made all the difference. I have already picked quite a few, and must pick some more tonight. We have Himalayan Giant, which is a vigorous, large and well flavoured one. Downside is the thorns which are large and vigorous too. We got it as it was one our old lady had in her garden, and we wanted something by that wall to deter scrumpers.

gz



Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8924
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 7:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Our local foraging supplies are just beginning to ripen.
I've got cultivated thornless in pots for the garden, I've been bringing them on before planting out...the soil isn't brilliant here...and the fruit is developing well on them.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Down one side of my allotment there are lots of blackberries growing. Possible a row of about 8-9 meters. The fruit quality is excellent this year. Big and juice and they taste yummy. I've got about 3lb so far but there are plenty more on their way.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46218
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 11:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

interesting , if i was starting a garden i recon i would go for a cultivar , the type we have is pretty good even if it is a wilding but it is a bit rust prone in a damp year and it does need proper fruit pruning to get a good crop, left to it's own devices it heads off for ripon and flowers about half way there

gregotyn



Joined: 24 Jun 2010
Posts: 2201
Location: Llanfyllin area
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 2:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have a glut this year too. As it is I have more than I can cope with even in a bad year. They are taking over a bit in places, but lovely fruit, big and juicy. I was thinking of doing a garden gate sale but don't want to sit
round all day hoping that someone else wants them and can't be bothered to pick them from the hedgerow.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46218
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 18 3:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

an honesty box might work.

iirc you dont drink much ( i ferment fruit gluts ) but a glut would make bramble jelly or pastilles for winter.

bramble jelly makes a nice hot drink on a cold day as well as being great on toast

bramble is one of the fruits that improves with being concentrated.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15972

PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 18 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Reading this thread reminds me that I have the blackberries I picked last night to put in the freezer. I also managed to transfer the wine to demijohns yesterday. Is there an easy and clean way to do that? I end up using a ladle to transfer the juice while trying to avoid the pulp going in by lining the funnel with cheesecloth.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46218
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Aug 04, 18 10:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Mistress Rose wrote:
Reading this thread reminds me that I have the blackberries I picked last night to put in the freezer. I also managed to transfer the wine to demijohns yesterday. Is there an easy and clean way to do that? I end up using a ladle to transfer the juice while trying to avoid the pulp going in by lining the funnel with cheesecloth.


i use a cylinder made out of a square of stainless steel fly screen and pop the syphon tube inside it.
not quite mess free but pretty tidy.

in the past i have used a pulp bag to hold the ferment until time for a squeeze, quite messy

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15972

PostPosted: Sun Aug 05, 18 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Thanks Dpack, I might try that. I find the syphon tube gets blocked with bubbles though, so will still have to use a ladle or something, but keeping the pulp out of the area of extraction is the most important thing.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Mon Aug 06, 18 8:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The last time I made some blackberry wine, it was either Nick or Sean said to put my fruit into a pillow case and then put it in to the water in the brewing bucket. It made it a lot easier to syphon off when I was transferring to the demijohns.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15972

PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 18 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That is an alternative. It would have to be a very old pillowcase though, as the stain would never come out.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46218
Location: yes
PostPosted: Tue Aug 07, 18 9:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

a pillow case will work but the squeeze stage is hard work (and can pop the cloth if it is an old un ) a proper pulp bag of fine nylon mesh is easier and less than a tenner, they last pretty well making it a sundries cost of pennies per gallon.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15972

PostPosted: Wed Aug 08, 18 7:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I have always left the fruit to sit on the top of the wine as I though that was the best way to get the yeast to it. I often make a couple of gallons at a time as I only tend to make wine when I really have a lot of fruit so it would have to be a pretty good size pulp bag. The one I have for jam making wouldn't be anything like large enough.

Behemoth



Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds
PostPosted: Thu Aug 09, 18 4:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Good berries this year. Slightly earlier than usual.

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