Autumn Biss raspberry reproduced with permission from East Malling Research

I live in Edinburgh and am wanting to plant autumn raspberries this year. Which is the best variety for east coast Scotland?

Roisin Farrington

Discovery apple, which has some natural resistance to scab and mildew

It has been my practice to control mildews and pear and apple scab with fortnightly sprays of dithane 945 and it has always been successful. I read of commercial growers success with Aston’s, garlic/seaweed/citrus, Tree Wash, in the ‘East of England Apples and Orchards Spring Newsletter’ and decided to test it for myself and ceased to used dithane for trace elements and fungus protection.

My regime for apple, pears, cold house and outdoor vines was a fortnightly wash with Tree Wash diluted 1;100 and sprayed to run off. I noticed an improvement in leaf colour and sheen and the spray appears to have maintained a good grip, despite the wet summer. I discovered the beginnings of powdery mildew on outdoor Müller Thurgau, Septimer and Perle on 7 August and so I terminated the trial for all outdoor grapes until after winter training, when I will begin the 2009/2010 programme with a winter spray at 1:250 dilution.

There is, as yet, no sign of mildew under glass where the vines look glossy and well. All apples and pears are similarly well with the exception of one very scabby Williams’ pear.

I read of the efficacy of neem oil in a letter written to the ‘National Auricula and Primula Yearbook’ by Heidi Dixon. The gist of her letter is as follows: neem oil is extracted from Azadirachta indica, native to India and known there as ‘village pharmacy’ because it acts as an insect repellent. It has been subject to much grower and university research and has been shown to be effective against aphids, thrips, white fly, mealy bug, weevils, fruit fly, slugs, snails and other plant pests. The active ingredient azaridachtin and other bitter compounds repel insects. The writer reports that it dealt speedily with red spider mite infestation with lasting effect and that it can prevent powdery mildew.

I cannot test the efficacy of neem oil for myself as I have an ongoing trial using Ashton Tree Wash but others may wish to test it.

Alan Rowe

The number of new vineyards planted in Sussex led me to look up the statistics kept by the English Wine Producers – the trade body for English vineyards – recording the number of hectares planted for commercial scale wine production county by county. For anyone interested in vines, wines and grapes the figures for the leading counties are as follows: West Sussex, 208 hectares (1 hectare equals 2.47 acres); Kent, 144 hectares; Surrey, 107; East Sussex, 91; Hampshire, 88; Essex, 79; Devon, 52, Suffolk, 38; Gloucestershire, 35; Cornwall, 30; Isle of Wight, 29; Oxfordshire, 23. Some 55% of grapes harvested go into the making of white wine, 25% to sparkling, 10% to rosé and 10% to red wine.

While investment and planting had slowed by the millennium, it has now regained new impetus. Through practise in the 1970s-1980s the industry came to realise that selection of varieties associated with the cooler wine-growing region of Germany, for example, Müller Thurgau, Bacchus, Reichensteiner, were not necessarily best suited to the climate of what is broadly termed the south-east. Selection instead from varieties associated with the climate and soils of the Champagne region, just over the English Channel, has not only led to success but provided the spur to renewed acquisition of land and the planting of yet larger vineyards.

One gold medal wining organic grower I know, working in an old walled garden on the High Weald, regretted planting Müller Thurgau in times previous, which, yes, has won him gold, but, were highly susceptible to mildew. Combating mildew required spraying with copper which kills earthworms and in the long term disrupts the relationship between plants and the life of the soil they grow in. Now, with hindsight he wishes he had planted Seyre-Villard, Seyval Blanc, ironically dubbed ‘Save-All’ because of its capacity to produce crops when other varieties fail.

Climate and soil side though, the commercial scale wine-producer in these islands is severely disadvantaged by cheap subsidised imports from abroad.

Ian Harrison

Orange trees growing in South Africa

Frequently one reads adverts for fruiting trees, such as oranges, lemons and olives, that one would normally regard as rather tender, yet are advertised as suitable for ordinary garden cultivation, resistance to cold
high winds, frost resistant to -5° C. etc.

Has any reader experience, directly or indirectly, of people in the U.K. successfully fruiting these in their gardens, apart from in the very warmest places on the coast?

Howard Stringer.

For news of some exotics fruiting in England see our main website:

Olives in Suffolk; Exotics and Early Fruits in the South East; Pomegrantes fruiting in England

and also on this Blog see Olive Trees fruiting in England

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What can I use to protect my apple trees from wild life, e.g., deer, porcupine, mice or voles, rabbits and even beaver? Fences work until the snow gets too high then the animals can get over top of the fencing. Could I use a mix of pine tar and canola oil on the upper branches or will that harm the trees? Is there a fungicide that I should use. These trees are at our lake cabin in Manitoba, Canada. We are not always at the cabin in the winter to keep the animals away.

Bill Morningstar

I live in New England, USA, New Hampshire actually and my question is – what if anything do I spray my Mac Intosh apple trees with in the fall? I was told there are horticultural sprays that are all organic. Is this true? I was also told to spray them in the fall to protect against insects that will live in the tree through the winter, I would really appreciate some good advice. The fruit tree thing is new to me.

Lenny Belanger

Japanese Quince

A friend gave me some very nice looking Japanese quinces. Are they edible? I want to make them into jelly (with apples), but as I often give my jelly away, I don’t want to poison my friends.

Thai Goulton

Just in time for Apple Day, a recording of the ‘Bramley Apple Song’ made to celebrate 200 years of the Bramley apple is now available to buy from its originator, John Starkey.

The words of the song were written by John with music by Simon Freeman and it is sung by the tenor singer of Southwell Minster choir and choristers. The disc also contains other songs with an apple theme: ‘Linden Lea’, ‘Oliver Cromwell’, ‘I will give My Love an Apple’ and ‘Apple Tree Wassail’.

To buy a copy, price £4.99 including p&p, contact: starkey@farming.co.uk

Fruit Forum

First prize in award for nine plates of apples and pears won by Adrian Baggaley

Another glorious fruit show at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Halls in London this week saw our man from the north, Adrian Baggaley, again scoop up the ‘First Prizes’ and special awards, along with Doug Palmer and Bill Harrison, for their exhibits of apples and pears.  It must be one of the wonders of London that you can come in off the streets of Westminster and step into another world more evocative of a small country show than SW1 just around the corner from the throngs of Victoria Station and the Embankment.

The ‘Great Autumn Show’, as it used to be called, is the opportunity for keen amateur fruit and vegetable growers to gain some of the highest accolades in the show calendar and give Londoners a rare treat. But what perversity this year caused the RHS to split up the fruit and vegetables and distributed them between the two Halls so that the stunning scene of  massed fruit and vegetables was lost; such a  pity!

Fruit Forum

Fruit Forum has received the following requests for supplies of crab apple juice and an apple crusher and will be happy to pass on information.

I am interested in purchasing crab apple juice for jelly making.

Yvonne Abercrombie

A neighbour and I have just started making cider from our various apple trees. We have used a Pulpmaster which works well, but not for volume, and I was wondering if anyone may know of a secondhand fruit crusher for sale?

Mark Taylor