Autumn Bliss in Summer

Popped into the kitchen garden this morning (3rd August) in search of some fruit to put on my breakfast muesli. Picked eight ripe & ready Autumn Bliss raspberries to turn a dull, but healthy, first meal of the day into a gourmet treat. OK, perhaps a small amount of hyperbole there! Eight raspberries weighed in at 68 g which is a good size. And the taste was exquisite.

Photo 1: 

The raspberry canes were planted in February 2022 and are now beginning to bear decent amounts of fruit although it will be another year before they reach peak productivity. The Glen Ample raspberries have mostly finished so it was a delight to find a few of the autumn-cropping Autumn Bliss available for breakfast.

Autumn Bliss was first introduced in 1984 and may have been the first red late-season variety. I remember growing it in the 1990s when we lived in London. It fruits from September to the first frost and is very reliable. The reason I could pick berries on the 3rd of August is because there were a couple of non-fruiting canes left over from last year. For autumn-fruiting raspberries, any canes that produce fruit should be cut out at ground level during the winter (i.e. before the end of February). However, if you have any canes that did not yield berries, you should leave these and they will produce an early crop the following year.

PS My cereal bowl has a few chips around the edge but was made for me by my younger daughter so will remain in daily use for as long as it holds milk.

PPS 'Blowing a raspberry' comes from rhyming Cockney slang - 'raspberry tart'.

PPPS Raspberries are highly nutritious containing a wide range of vitamins and essential minerals. They are particular rich in Vitamin C and Manganese (30% of your daily requirements), anthocyanins and fibre.