Chairman’s Chit Chat April 2026
It’s done. At last.
New bramble canes have finally been planted on the allotment.
I mentioned way back in February 2024 that the days of my ‘Ashton Cross’ bramble were numbered – and so it proved. This bramble was one of the first things I planted when I took on the allotment almost 30 years ago. I chose ‘Ashton Cross’ because of the glowing report in the catalogue: “A vigorous and heavy-cropping variety with wiry stems. The medium-sized fruits have the true flavour of the wild blackberry”. This was not the whole story. Yes – the fruits were medium; yes – the flavour was excellent; but vigorous was an understatement. It was a real thug, putting on a good six feet of growth in a season.
The report also forgot to mention that the canes were smothered in brutish, flesh-tearing thorns.
It was planted at the very far end of the allotment, and it did perform well, but over the years it gradually became overshadowed firstly by a shed, then by the muck stack and lastly by a couple of elderberry bushes, and it was beginning to look very unhappy.
Anyway, it has been put out of its misery and is no more.
The plan was to invest in a thornless variety and site it in a sunny position.
In the autumn of 2024, I purchased two canes of ‘Asterina’, beguiled by the glowing catalogue write-up: “A cross between Chester and Loch Ness, bred in Switzerland, this is a wonderful main season variety. It has an exceptional flavour, even in years when there are below average levels of sunshine. Large, bright, shiny black fruit with a strong blackberry aroma. Thornless and produces lots of new growth for large crops in subsequent years. Good pest and disease resistance too”.
Getting them in the ground kept on getting pushed down the ‘to do’ list.
This did have the advantage of my being able to strike some runners and the two canes became eight.
It was not until February this year that the project was completed.
The ground was prepared. Four posts, four bags of Postcrete, a bag of galvanized staples and a roll of galvanized wire were bought. The framework was put in place and the canes planted and tied on to the wires. The canes had a top dressing of blood, fish and bone and then a thick layer of mulch was applied.
It’s done. At last!