Technically the legend demands that blackberries be picked before Michaelmas Day, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, held on September 29. After that day the devil is said to spit on them. This year spring was so late that I have carried on picking them from the hedgerows regardless, for there is nothing quite like blackberry and apple for flavour. My three varieties, Loch Ness, Karaka Black and Reuben, are all very different. Loch Ness, the most popular commercial variety, is thornless and produces high yields. I have it growing on a south-facing wall. The round fruits are of an average size and they appear from August onwards. Loch Ness, one of a series of lochs bred by the the Scottish Crop Research Institute, is derived from tetraploid North American species. Tetraploids always have more productivity. (Available from Pomona Fruits — 01255 440410/ www.pomonafruits.co.uk) Karaka Black (from Blackmoor Nurseries 01420 477978 blackmoor.co.uk) has huge berries produced from July onwards. This New Zealand variety should crop for eight weeks. However, like most things that produce large fruits, berries may be sparse. Both of these varieties fruit on last year’s canes. Next year’s canes sprout from the rootstock from midsummer and their vigorous growth can get in the way of picking if the canes blow about. The easiest system is to train all the new canes on one side of the supports, say the left, and have the old canes trained on the right side. If space is tighter you can train the new canes vertically, in the middle of the old canes. The new canes are gradually gathered together into a tight bundle fixed to the frame in the 12 o’clock position. The old canes are then cut out in late autumn and the new ones tied in. There is a new American primocane blackberry called Reuben, which fruits on new wood. This is the first primocane variety and it’s cut back entirely in winter. It’s available from Pomona Fruits – 01255 440410 pomonafruits.co.uk. This development will surely produce more primocane varieties in the future. Blackberries can be difficult to establish and my first Reuben did die on me. If they become waterlogged they normally die from lack of aeration (oxygen), or from root diseases. They need well-drained loamy soil with moderate water holding capacity. Adding organic matter when you plant, or building raised beds will help aerate and drain the soil.