The Art of Growing and Showing Loganberrys

Loganberry - Thornless makes picking easier.

Among the many edible-berried plants that have been introduced into gardens during the last one hundred years none is of greater value than the humble Loganberry. The Loganberry is the result of a cross between the Blackberry plant and the Raspberry plant. It has never been so popular to eat in its raw state as either the Blackberry or the Raspberry; both of these garden berries have a sweet taste, whereas the Loganberry has a somewhat acid flavour, but if used for making Loganberry Jam.

Also the Berries can be mixed with Raspberries and Blackberries and use in cooking mainly in Loganberry Tarts, the combination of all the berries makes it well worth growing.
The Loganberry is probably un-surpassed by any other hardy fruit in the matter of heavy crops. It having the great advantage of being practically unaffected by bad weather; whatever the spring might bring, whether cold and wet, or hot and dry, it never fails to produce a heavy yield.

Those who care to turn an honest penny while enjoying their gardening work will be interested to know that the Loganberry is the most profitable of the small berried fruits; especially if late spring frost have ruined other crops, the Loganberry can be relied upon to fetch high prices. Loganberry Plants are so vigorous that, if planted into fairly good soil, let's say your chief garden border it will grow so fast that the gardener will have a grand job trying to keep the Loganberry Plant within bounds.

In the southern hemisphere Countries the Loganberry can be grown on a North facing wall, but in the North a warmer position is necessary. It is most generally useful, to grow your Loganberry Plant against a rough fenced area, or to cover an eyesore such as an outbuilding. The Loganberry Plant can also be trained to grow over a trellis or archway; it seems, in fact, able and willing to grow almost anywhere.

The Loganberry Plant's needs are so simple that the merest amateur, never having grown Loganberries before, should not hesitate to plant it. November is the best time to plant your Loganberry, as soon as planting is complete the growths should be cut back to about half way; in the following Late February or early March they may be cut to within one foot of the ground.

During the late spring and summer fresh shoots will make rapid growth and by the end of the season the branches will have reached at least 6 feet high, these shoots will fruit the following year. The Loganberry shoots should not be bunched up together as some growers have a tendency to do, but should be spread out and tied into a fan shape; the use of a wire frame is very useful.

In the second year and all subsequent years the question of pruning your Loganberry Plants will demand your attention, but this is very simple. All that one has to do is, as soon as the Loganberry Fruits are gathered, to cut out some of the shoots that have produced the Loganberry Fruits.

Trevor Dalley has been growing and preserving his own fruit for 40 year, most of the preserves are sold in his Organic Farm Shops in Herefordshire England. Did you find those tips on Organic Food a way of Life useful?