The birds were getting through the netting so I made the decision to pick the sour cherries.

Konrad, what are you favourite raspberries? I got some for nothing this year and the berries are sour and really small like in the lower left hand of your picture. A friend of mine had some in his back yard that get mildew but they are much sweeter. I transplanted 4 and 2 survived. I can't wait to try them out in a couple year's time. They have a somewhat larger berry maybe Souris?

This year with more or tooo..much rain, obviously none are great/sweet tasting except the Viking, but these I wanted to get rid of because of freeze back most years, in a normal year I would say Nova, Souris and the black are my favored...if you like a bit of acid, if you want them sweet with less acid then the purple royalty or honey queen would be for you.

What are the Altaglow berries like, Konrad?

Surprisingly sweet like others but not as much flavor...I'm just growing them as a novelty, birds might leave them alone for longer.

This is grafted to a wild one.

Does anybody grow Chief Raspberry from Boughen Nursery?

Funny how some some of your worst cultivars become your best one year after a mild winter, Chief got killed back several winters since I got them, [mostly all canes] now most are alive. Berries are HUGE..about a inch long, firm and very tasty!

Not much comfort when I see berries only ones in a blue moon.

From Boughen website..Good heavy bearer of medium sized sweet red fruit.

Have transplanted some in spring to higher ground which might help.

But..I wouldn't be surprised if they got mixed up since other bad experiences I had with them and NOT buying anymore.

From another site I read..

Chief - Profuse small red berries, but of only fair quality.

You want berries which you can trust and of good size, ..I regret now getting Latham and Chief from Boughen.

You might want to net the cherries to sweeten up.

My Evans need about another week or two but I'm browsing them for the last two.

Here the large Chief and the little Latham on the left.

Not many I have from these Chief berries since they froze back and killed some plants right out, leaving a gap in the row of about 7 plants I put in.

Now the real picking starts, heat is up and less rain making them testier. The Viking which got killed back for several years also have more berries and I love the sweetness! Too many end up in my mouth! Some Purple Royalty, Honey Queen and black ones which are just starting now didn't get into this milk jug lol.

This is Balsor's Blackberry in a pot, had only one good live cane but just loaded, I forgot watering a day or two and some leaves got wilted a little.

I did some Brix, [sugar level] testing in Raspberries today.

Starting with the highest, Honey Queen and the large Chief measured 10

The black ones, think Wyoming black =8

Latham the little tasty ones = 8

Nova = 7, haven't checked Killarney but tasted similar.

Viking = 7..surprisingly low but taste sweet, [low acid].

Souris = 6.5

Today's harvest..Norkent apples in town....the earliest ever...none at the orchard is seems, spring frost of about minus 7 froze them when flowering.

Konrad, would that be about a month earlier than normal for the Norkent apples to be ready? I have a Norkent tree growing, but it hasn't given me any fruit yet.

Yes...about a month early...need to be patient with production, how old is it?

About 6 years old. I haven't really expected it to produce yet. It takes awhile for fruit trees around here. I think they don't grow as fast because of our short season and cold nights. For instance, the temperature was 38 F (about 3 C) this morning...not unusual here...we get light frosts on scattered days throughout the summer. I had to scrape ice off my car windshield one morning last week.

Brrr....too early for this! You might want to add your zone # into your profile.

I'm browsing now on Clove Currants...

And some Elderberries

The elderberries look great! what variety are they?

These are Johns

They look like a bigger berry than mine get. I've never tried Johns, but have Nova, Kent, several native, new plantings of Bob Gordon, Wildewood and Korsor. I'm hoping Korsor is hardy for me as it came on earlier and produced larger berries than my others so far and it is European (Sambucus nigra).

Have any of yours ripened? Have tried some others years ago, [not sure anymore which cultivars] but was no good, this one proves to be a good one and is self fertile, most sites claim that it needs a pollinator but not true.

Mine are just turning color. Korsor (first year for it) is ahead of the others and almost ready to pick. I have a poor fruit set this year with small spotty clusters. Korsor's clusters hang down and the fruit is larger, where the natives, Nova & Kent are facing up. Most years I get a few ripe ones before a hard frost, not enough to get excited about. A friend in Raymond that put in natives had an amazing harvest last year. They just don't like my location and they often freeze to the ground, but still come up from the roots. I let the first blooms go to fruit and then pick the rest of the flowers for tea since they won't ripen before fall anyways. I am trying a few in a different spot to see if they do better. I am going to try Johns next year and see if it is better here for me too. Now to find a source.

Berries in full swing...a native Saskatoon growing in my property.

From today...

This is the blue belle honey berry, on the right the Native Saskatoon and on the left is Northline...less even ripening.

Only one bunch of Altaglow this year.

These look amazing Konrad!

I've got to add some yellow raspberries in the future!

This is Honey Queen...very productive.

Today's pick..most reds, Killarney, Nova, Latham and Viking.

Picked raspberries today but they are winding down, except Wyoming Black which is just picking up. Pic is of Souris (largest group and personal favorite so far), Garry (red) and Wyoming. I put in 9 more varieties for trialing. Anne (yellow) fruited and it was insipid, doesn't even come close to Honeyqueens flavor!

Looking good...I picked some blacks today, just starting. I have problems with current flies so I got rid of the reds, I now have the black only and cover or spray.

The currant fly hasn't found me yet...hopefully doesn't. Closest currants to mine are 2 miles away, so a bit sparse around here.

Curious, is Honey Queen considered the best yellow raspberry for flavour. sweetness and hardiness?