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

The chief enemy of creativity is 'good' sense. Pablo Picasso Good sense if greatly overrated but it helps one navigate the mundane, without it who knows where one ends up -

An interesting group to have a birthday party for. Don, you are so good to bring the quotes to us, I appreciate them, read them every morning, but don't always comment, interruptions by my feline housemates often derail my train of thought. Happy New Year to you and MIssy

I loved this show. I've watched all of the the Mary, Paul, Sue, Mel seasons. More than once! Tried to give it a chance after the debacle but Mel and Sue carried the humor, which was only second to the wonderful camaraderie the contestants had for each other. I really miss them all together. Becky, I've made that bread several times...including this evening! It's wonderful for toast, which my kids are looking forward to topping with peanut butter and jelly tomorrow morning :) I think it'd make great French toast, too. I use Corningware larger than the sizes of her Pyrex, 1.5 and 1.75. Tonight it was a 2 qt. round for one loaf, instead of two. Freezes well. Here's tonight's slice with some chicken noodle soup from Smitten Kitchen Every Day. I buttered, cooked on a sheet pan at 400 until the bottom toasted, turned and topped with a mix of grated fridge cheeses, and continued to bake until the bottom toasted.