[FLPERMACULTURE] a curiosity in my garden

[Marty Hiller]

On Jul 9, 2008, at 10:57 AM, Joel and Sarah Gagnon wrote:

> Are you tipping the plants to promote branching?

No. I haven't done much pruning at all, other than to remove the  
spent canes. It might be a good idea, though; they tower over the  
neighboring black ones (which aren't being pruned either.)

> Yellow or "golden" variants of red raspberries are generally  
> sweeter and milder than their red counterparts. I didn't notice  
> much difference in either of those characteristics in my yellow  
> version of a black raspberry, and it sounds like you didn't either.

Not a lot. There's enough difference in the flavor that I can tell  
them apart, but I have to be paying attention.

> From a nutritional perspective, I think the anthocyanins are  
> probably a desirable thing, so I have to wonder whether the yellow- 
> fruited version of blacks is worth promoting. Kinda like white  
> flour...

It's not at all like white flour, actually. It's a whole food, and  
all of its vitamins and most of its other constituents are the same  
as the black variety. It just has a different color, due to a lower  
level of one specific chemical that happens to be a hot topic right  
now in cancer research. Stacked up against that are the value of  
visual appeal, variety, and genetic diversity. There are a lot of  
other fruit and vegetable varieties that don't have a deep dark rich  
color either, and if we removed them all from our diet it would make  
eating our veggies (which are the only food group that every diet  
plan in the world encourages) a lot less interesting. Take  
cauliflower, for example. Or spaghetti squash. Or mutzu apples. Or  
red or gold cherries. Or green lettuce. I just don't see it.

- Marty

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