Fruit Full, fruits: raspberries, quinces and mulberries

raspberries

Raspberries are closely related to blackberries. In Europe, the first records of raspberries date from the time of Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naturalist who described the fruit as coming from Mont Ida in the Mediterranean, hence the Latin name Rubus idaeus. The english name raspberry is derived either from raspise "sweet rose-coloured wine" (15th century), from raspoie of Germanic origin meaning "thicket", or from Old English rasp "rough berry". The plant was not cultivated much in Britain until the 16th century, presumably because it was so common growing wild and easily picked for free.

Raspberries are rich in vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants and anti-inflammatory substances such as the plant pigments flavonoids. They are considered one of the most healthy berries to include in our diet, one of the so called "super foods", alongside blueberries.

growing raspberries

A raspberry plant produces several new shoots each year called canes (a type of suckers), growing from an extensive root system which can rapidly get out of bound in a garden or allotment if allowed to do so. There are two main types of canes: the summer varieties which grow straight shoots in the first year, then flowers and fruits the second year; and the autumn raspberries which flower and fruit every year.

The fruits are expensive to produce: they are very delicate, require careful hand picking and they have a very short shelf life. Those imported from outside Europe, such as the Moroccan raspberries available in January, will have been air freighted into the country. In the past, most of the UK raspberries were grown in Scotland, where the cool climate is ideal. They are now grown throughout Britain.

Raspberries are often grown in pots in polytunnels, where they are dependant on irrigation and fertilisers. Also, their pollination is often done by bees bought in for the purpose, including by non-native bees which may have in the past introduced new pests and diseases to the wild population. These raspberries are very productive for a few years, after which they are removed and replaced. Such growing methods use a lot of resources, energy and labour but the results are high yields of beautiful, premium rated fruits, often tasty too! The traditional cultivation in open fields is now mostly reserved for making jams and juices. It is a much more sustainable method but one less suited to the fresh fruits market.

more information

For an overview of this art and science project, go to: Fruit Full home page

To discover two other fruits: plums and cherries, go to: Fruits 1

To explore our inner child's garden, go to: Fruit Talk

If you would like more information about the five fruits celebrated here, you can download the following texts, as pdf documents:

Fruits is about fruits and the origins of fruit farming.

Five Fruits is a longer text about the five fruits featured: plums, cherries, raspberries, quinces and mulberries.

what is a quince?

Quinces are closely related to pears. In warmer climes, they are often sweet enough to eat straight from the tree. When grown in Europe, they never fully ripen on the tree and must be cooked first in order to unlock their sweetness, powerful aroma and delicious taste. Their golden fruits are amazing, full of character and intensely aromatic. They also produce beautiful flowers in the spring, with a delicately twisted bud and large white and pink petals set amongst grey-green leaves.

The trees live for a long time, gradually becoming gnarled and a bit mad in appearance, if you are lucky enough to spot one lost amongst an old orchard. Although once commonly planted in Britain, quinces have never been as popular as apples and pears. Instead, one or two trees would traditionally have been planted amongst the other fruits.

Known by the Greeks as the "Golden Apple", quinces were probably more popular in ancient times than apples and were credited with many mythical and medicinal powers, including, at various times, as an aid to digestion, an aphrodisiac and as protection against the Black Plague. In Greek mythology, the quince was known as Aphrodite’s fruit, a symbol of love and fertility - could this be due to the voluptuous curves and sexy shape of the fruit, I wonder?

what are quinces used for?

An early use of the fruit, now ended, was to make marmalade. The Romans had discovered that quinces are naturally rich in pectin, which allows fruits to set when cooked and made into jam or jelly. The first recipe for a preserve arrived in Britain in the 16th century from the Continent, via the Portuguese who called it marmelada, from the Portuguese word for quince: marmelo. The preserve was made only with quinces then and was very expensive, because it contained added sugar (a luxury at the time).

In the 18th century, the price of sugar dropped and over time citrus fruits, also naturally high in pectin, replaced quinces, although the name marmalade remained. By the 19th century, quinces began to lose their status. At first the surplus fruits were turned into wine, then the trees became rarer in orchards.

By the 20th century, quinces had almost totally disappeared from the British diet. They are now difficult to find in supermarkets, even when in season in the autumn. For locally grown fruits, you’ll have to try a farmers market. The fruits, either cooked on their own or added to dishes, both savoury and sweet, have an aroma and taste unrivalled by any other.

For people interested in learning more about quinces, how to grow them and cook with them, I recommend "Quinces" by Jane McMorland Hunter and Sue Dunster, from The English Kitchen (2014).

more information

If you would like more information about the five fruits celebrated here, you can download the following texts, as pdf documents:

Fruits is about fruits and the origins of fruit farming.

Five Fruits is a longer text about the five fruits featured: plums, cherries, raspberries, quinces and mulberries.

Another page focuses on the other fruits, plums and cherries: Fruits 1

For an overview of the project, go to: Fruit Full home page

the black mulberry tree

Mulberries are the fruits of the black mulberry tree. These berries will never be sold in supermarkets, despite being one of the most delicious fruits on earth. The reason? They break down into a juicy mess as soon as you touch them and will rapidly cover you in purple sticky goo. They then start going off after only a few days. So there is no way that they could survive picking, storing and transportation.

Although not native to the UK, the black mulberry tree is ideally suited to our moist and cool climate. It often grows at an angle, acquiring incredibly gnarled branches, sometimes ending up dramatically torn or growing along the ground. Many old and revered trees are dotted around England, some truly old, some just looking so. It is a slow cropper until it reaches a mature age. It can occasionally change sex: mulberries usually have both male and female flowers on the same tree and are self-fertile. In old age however, they can start producing only either male or female flowers. In this case another tree nearby with flowers of the opposite sex will be needed for the female flowers to produce fruits.

Mulberries have a long tradition of being used in Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine. Pliny the Elder, the Roman author and naturalist, mentions the tree’s useful properties and the famous 1597 Herbal of John Gerard describes its bark as a vermifuge (dewormer). The fruits are rich in nutrients, particularly vitamin C, fibre and polyphenols: plant-based micronutrients known for their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits. So mulberries are another type of "super-food", if only you could get hold of some...

the story of the mulberry tree

By the 17th century, the production of silk, originally from China, was flourishing in France and Italy, mostly using white mulberry trees to feed the silkworms, as these trees are preferred by the worms. White mulberries need a warmer climate to grow well.

Keen to start such a valuable industry both in England and in the American colony of Virginia, in 1607 King James I asked the English nobility to plant 10,000 black mulberries, whilst white mulberries were shipped to Virginia, which has the right climate for them.

Having access to published textbooks on the subject, the King would have known that white mulberries were best for making silk but he may have decided to gamble with planting black mulberries in England instead, knowing that these were more suited to our climate. In both countries, this silk production failed, arguably for different reasons.

It is now thought that the "wrong type of tree" was not mistakenly introduced by King James I in England to start a silk industry but the reason for his decision was not recorded, so we will never know for sure.