Rubus idaeus Fall Gold - Raspberry

The Fallgold Raspberry is distinguished, as its name suggests, by its yellow fruit. The fruits have excellent taste quality, they are fragrant, and above all, very sweet, without any acidity. This variety is self-fertile produces two harvests, the first at the end of August and the second in October. It is an ideal fruit for immediate consumption, right after picking.

The Fallgold Raspberry belongs to the Rosaceae family. It is a cousin of blackberries and wild roses. The wild raspberry is native to Europe and temperate Asia, where it grows in cool climates alongside elderberry, beech, or mountain ash, especially in mountainous undergrowth, but also in plains.

The 'Fallgold' variety is a deciduous shrub with upright stems, forming a bush of 1m (3 to 4ft) in all directions. The stems are biennial, each having the peculiarity of dying after fruiting. It spreads from a perennial sucker stump, producing new shoots armed with small prickles every year. It bears green leaves on the top, white-green and tomentose underneath. The flowering is highly bee-friendly. The yellowish-white flowers are small (0.5cm or 0.2in in diameter), grouped in small clusters of 10 to 12, and appear from May to September. The fruits are small berries, detaching very easily when ripe. The fruiting begins in July and can continue until October, depending on the climate and region. The fruits are consumed fresh, right after picking, as they do not keep and must be consumed or processed very quickly. Production reaches its normal level in the third year after planting. One plant can produce fruit for about 10 years.

Combine this perpetual raspberry with varieties like Zeva, Heritage, or Meeker in a hedge that will demarcate the vegetable garden, or in a countryside composition, alongside currants, May berries, garden blackberries, dogwoods, wild roses or cranberries that produce edible and vitamin-rich fruits.

The cultivation of raspberries seems to date back to the end of the Middle Ages. In the forest, five to ten years after a cut, particularly of beech trees, wild raspberries appear on the cleared area, producing fruit for three to four years. Raspberries contain two specific sugars, levulose and fructose, very little sucrose, so they are low in calories. The fruits also contain ellagic acid, tannins, vitamin C, and are a good source of potassium. It is also a medicinal plant, with its young shoots and buds used in gemmotherapy.

*This non-adherence is indeed a distinguishing criterion between raspberries in the broad sense and blackberries (including Rubus fruticosus, our European blackberry), whose receptacle remains on the fruit.