Boy, I don't know Stan. I never heard of Joan J. raspberry, but before I would put in 1,000 plants of anything I would try a smaller planting first. Nourse Farms is a gold standard nursery, and I would be inclined to trust their judgment, but if I lived in even a slightly different area or climate I would try a test planting first.

Does that "mtn" in mtnstan indicate you live somewhere in the mountains? Your mountains, wherever they are, may be a little different than Massachusetts mountains.

One growing year is not too much to lose, considering the possible alternatives.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

I'm decidedly unimpressed with the flavor of Joan J. Granted, it produces a LOT of really pretty, firm fruit that's great for shipping, but the flavor is quite bland and waxy, IMO. Depending on your market, it could work great, but it could also tank.

In a piece published: 13 July 08

Derek Jennings, the well known raspberry breeder responsible for all the Glen varieties which were named after the Scottish Glens that Derek had walked, describes his more recent successes produced during his 'retirement' in Kent.

Autumn Fruiting Raspberries: keeping up with the JOANS

"After years of breeding summer-fruiting raspberries in Scotland it was difficult for me to give up the job when I `retired`. So I formed a partnership with a leading Kent fruit grower and, since I needed a change, took up the breeding of the autumn-fruiting kind. At this time autumn-fruiting, i.e.primocane-fruiting, raspberries; were only just beginning to become popular.

Another change was that I could name my varieties after the ladies in the family rather than after Scottish Glens. My first success was Joan Squire. It can be described as a second early and its fruit suited most but not all market outlets. It came from a cross between my Australian collaborator`s selection and the unnamed summer-fruiting selection mentioned. It became a leading variety whose use peaked in 2002 and is now declining in the face of competition from newer varieties. Growers in Chile who export raspberries over long distances to North America reported that it was not quite good enough for this purpose, so I sent them my selection 941/3 from a cross between Joan Squire and Autumn Bliss, just for them to test how it traveled over long distances. The selection has many faults and I asked them not to report them because I know them all!

To my great surprise they think 941/3 is perfect and last year reported a production of 338 tons of it. I cannot visualise what 338 tons of raspberries look like. Maybe a small mountain?

A selection that came from my own cross between Autumn Bliss and Glen Moy is Terri-Louise. It has exceptional fruit size but poor shelf-life and was more useful as a parent than for commercial use. Crossing it with Joan Squire gave me JOAN J. JOAN J. clearly illustrates the different priorities of the supermarkets and the consumers. Its VERY EXCELLENT SIZE AND FLAVOUR make it a clear favourite with consumers as shown by big sales of plants to amateur gardeners and to non-supermarket suppliers. Thus recent annual sales have been 76,000 plants in the UK and 67,000in the USA. But the supermarkets feel that its slight tendency to darken when very ripe and a slightly weak skin strength reduce its shelf-life and they have all refused to accept it..."

From ÂFruit Forum Edited by Joan Morgan

http://www.fruitforum.net/autumn-fruiting-raspberries-keeping-up-with-the-jo.htm

Here is a link that might be useful: Fruit Forum

Interesting article...Thank you. Do you know how I can find more information on 941/3?

941/3 is a selection from the program and isn't commercially available. It sounds like it had good shipping characteristics, which is why it was used as a parent, but had too many warts to be released as a variety.

Isn't there the possibility that Derek Jennings--the breeder--might be a bit biased about his creation?

IMHO the best thing a person could do before going all out is to as least grow a trial planting just to see how it will perform in your area, then decide if its what you really want.

mtnstan- I had wanted to reply to an original Joan J thread that I was involved in last year, but it appears that's fallen off the end of the GW queue.

Last year, my Joan JÂs tasted quite good, and right in line with all my other berries flavor-wise. So far this year, IÂm afraid I have to agree with FruitGirl. They were waxy/bland and no where near as good as my other raspberries. I'm wondering if this has something to do with all the rain we've had this year? We have had a ridiculous amount of rain this spring/summer. The plants are also much shorter in stature (only about 2.5') than my other plants, despite being in a good, full sun, composted location. Right next to them is a bed of Preludes which are doing awesome and taste awesome.

The plants have been quite short too (probably only 2.5 feet high) where as the other berries nearby are already 4 feet plus. I have to say, I'm quite disappointed with them this year. If theyÂre like this next year, this bed is coming out.

IÂm still perplexed why they didnÂt taste like this last year. (Sorry fruitgirl!)

Sorry if this isnÂt the news you wanted to hear. :-( Maybe itÂs due to the lack of sun, and yours will be better.
-Glenn

I just picked Joan J and Nova raspberries today. The Joan J were bigger and more plump than the Nova. BUT, the Nova had the raspberry taste that I expected. The Joan J has some taste, but not like the Nova. The Nova is an early bearing variety that I like. I might add some more. The Killarney and Himbo Top raspberries are not quite ready. I am waiting to compare the varieties that I have. I purchased all from Nourse Farms. I also have some Jacklyn raspberies.

your answer is they are delicious big and sweet.

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