2. So here are some preliminary observations, based on the first
fruiting season:
Flavor: Triple Crown wins. It is considerably sweeter
than Doyle, and is delightful to eat right off the vines. When eaten
fresh, it has a better, more "blackberry" flavor than Doyle. The
Doyle is more acidic, slightly sourish, more like some of the wild blackberries.
But Doyle is great for jelly, wine, cobblers and pies, or any use where
some sugar is added to cut the acidity.
Size: Triple Crown is slightly larger, in the first
flush of berries, but not by a whole lot. Some of the Triple Crowns
were so big they looked like little asteroids. They were larger than
the two thorny varieties I have grown, (Shawnee and Darrow), and, in the
initial flush of berries, so were the Doyles.
Productivity: Doyle wins hands down. It is
at least 3-4 times as productive as Triple Crown; it has more and larger
berry clusters, and continues producing about ten days after Triple Crown
has stopped. If you want sheer volume of berries, for winemaking
or a lot of jelly, Doyle is probably the one for you. With
ideal soil and site conditions, you can get 10-12 gallons of Doyles from
two plants in the first fruiting season.
Season: We started picking Triple Crowns on July 10, and
the Doyles on July 12. The Triple Crowns were finished on August
10, for a season of exactly one month. However, I am still picking
Doyles, although the berries are now smaller and somewhat seedier, so it
looks as if the Doyle picking season will be about 10 days longer than
Triple Crown. That certainly adds to the total production of the
Doyle, although the pickings have now declined to less than one gallon.
Vigor: Initially, I thought the Doyles would be considerably
less vigorous than the Triple Crowns, based on growth during the first
few months after planting. But the Severtson Farms people apparently
propagate by cuttings (they call it tissue culture), and ship small, fully-leafed
out plants in elaborate containers. I think it just takes a little
longer for the Doyle plants to catch up, but now they appear to be nearly
as vigorous as Triple Crown. Incidentally, some of the Triple Crown
canes that have formed this summer for next year's production are fully
1 inch across at the base. Like little trees. If the size of
the canes is any indicator, production from both of these berries should
increase significantly next season. The way these things grow reminds
me a little of Jack's beanstalk.
Soil Requirements: Both of these berries require a really
rich soil environment, and can benefit from foliar feeding during the growing
season. I sprayed them once with my hose-end Miracle Grow feeder,
but the real secret is compost in large quantities. The Severtson
Farms people recommend the application of finished compost, since heat
from composting will damage the canes, but I will put on fresh stable manure
to a depth of 10 inches or so after the first freeze. At this application
rate, the manure will not compost, but will break down gradually on the
surface over the winter, and be ready to go next spring. That has
worked for me before with a lot of other things. I never really till
the manure into the soil. Just keep putting on more, and let the
earthworms till it. The Severtson Farms people strongly recommend
the use of plastic stretchy tape to tie up the canes. Initially,
I used 3/4 inch tape, and found it somewhat awkward to tie, so I started
using the plastic covered wire twisties. Now I have some 1/2 stretchy
tape, which is easier to use, and I am using it for the main canes, but
will probably continue to use the wire twisties for the laterals, which
don't require so much support. I think in the area of Texas where
the Doyle comes from they experience a fairly high level of wind that we
don't have here, and the wire twisties are more likely to cut into the
canes.
3. For Vic: I think it was you who asked whether blackberries are also called "dewberries". I have heard the term dewberry, but don't really know what it is. Perhaps it's just a regional name for wild blackberries. When I said that Doyle and Triple Crown were "new" berries, I meant only new varieties, since the thornless trailing blackberry has been around for quite a while. I am familiar with Black Satin and Chester, and am sure there are others. I never thought the thornless types could compete with thorny berries for quality and productivity, but I was wrong. Given the right conditions, they are even better, and they don't tear up your forearms or stick you right through leather gloves.
4. For MN Del: I stand in admiration of you guys who grow fruit where winter temps of 30 degrees F below zero are routine. I wish I could tell you whether Doyle and Triple Crown might surivive where you live, but I can't test for that. I know you are growing Chester, and Doyle might be just as hardy. Obviously, you won't build a 6-7 foot structure for your berries, since you need the snow cover to protect the canes, but they might be trainable on wires at 18-24 inches, with some plastic sheeting underneath to keep the berries clean. You're not going to get the production you would from a taller fence, but you still might do pretty well with Doyle, if the canes will make it over the winter. You would laugh at what we call snow cover around here. Maybe 3-5 inches that is gone in 36 hours, but it is always enough to bring traffic in the Washington, D.C. area to a grinding halt. You probably wouldn't even notice it there in MN.
5. Cultivation Note: Both of these varieties will tip-root pretty readily, so if you have the time don't buy a whole lot of plants. Make your own. Triple Crown is a USDA release, so I don't think there is a patent, but the patent on Doyle is held by the Severtson Farms people. When I see a Doyle cane start to illegally tip-root, I place it under arrest immediately. Haven't decided what the punishment will be yet.
6. Jelly Note: Made some jelly with 3 gallons of the first Doyles.
3 gallons dry measure made:
- 19 cups juice, to which we added
- 10 cups sugar mixed with 10
tsp. Pomona's pectin, and
- 10 tsp. calcium solution.
The result was exactly 12 pints of really extraordinary blackberry
jelly.
7. BTW: I think it was Sam Franc out in OR who put me on to the
Doyle berry in the first place; before that I had never heard of it.
I want to thank him for that. Believe it was also Sam who first mentioned
the Baba raspberry, which has also been a great success here. Saw
mention of Triple Crown for the first time here too; don't remember who
brought it up. I know that F. Bunny is growing it in IL. The
msg board has its benefits.
Rgds, Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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