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Our most amazing gardening experience started one sunny afternoon in February a couple of years ago, just as the soil was beginning to warm under our fingers and as the hazel catkins bobbed their yellow tails in late winter.

We noticed a pale, long, green frond poking up through the soil on our side of the fence. We decided not to pull it up with the weeds, but watched it grow, only to be rewarded with, at first, tiny white flowers, and later with enough downy, dusky dark pink fruits to fill a child's eager hand. We cut it back after that and forgot about it until the next year.

Imagine our shock last April, to perambulate down to the bottom of the garden, and find the whole fence lined with lush, green raspberry bushes straining vigorously for the sun. This time, we quickly tied them in and threw some old net lace curtains over them to protect them from the birds.

We had around four dessert bowls of sweet fruit every day for about two months - all liberally sprinkled with a frosting of silver caster sugar and locally produced clotted cream of course! We felt like Royalty at Wimbledon or Ascot! - especially when we saw others paying exorbitant prices for soft fruit in the minimart.

The mystery lies in where they came from and what made them grow so well. Locally, there are odd examples of fruit escapees in the wild green hedges. They have usually jumped bail from peoples gardens over the years, but don't generally thrive. The only condition that is different that we can think of in our garden, is our soil and what we put into it.

The answer surprises everyone! Nothing more than old composted grass-clippings! - with a soupcon of farmyard manure mixed in. That part of the garden is where we dump our grass-clipping waste, and one time we just had the idea of adding a small amount of manure.

It might not work for everyone, but with the headache of clipping disposal, the cost and health benefits of the vitamin C and the health benefits of Herbal Raspberry Leaf Tea (allegedly good during childbirth and for headaches!) - it must be worth a try! We have now added a few more autumn-fruiting varieties to extend the season and these are dead easy to look after. Just chop them to ground level in the winter! Thompson And Morgan online are a very good and informative resource and ordering service.

In Spring our tall lanky bushes have plenty of purply pink raspberries. We put short rolls of chicken wire along the base of the row to deter the birds, who only seem to bother with jumping up a foot or so to pull the berrries down. This year we are looking forward to having enough left over for jam, and of course, Raspberry Ripple for the kids!

No Fuss Raspberry Ripple Recipe:
For a quick, pretty and fuss free supper dessert, just put a few fresh raspberries in a pretty, tall glass, add a scoop of ice-cream, sorbet, healthy frozen yogurt, or one of the new frozen smoothies, top with swirls of spray cream and raspberry or peach melba sauce. Top with those fancy confectioner's chocolate twigs. Healthy (or not so healthy depending on your choices!) and fruity fun!

We now have two kinds of raspberry varieties in our garden, to extend the season right through early Summer to late Fall. The early summer bushes need pruning now - an easy task. They should have stems which have finished fruiting cut out, and the new fresh stems tied in, ready to enjoy next year. It's that simple. The Fall-fruiting bushes in temperate zones can wait until Christmes.

Don't forget to freeze a few - to enjoy Raspberry Ripple right through the winter!

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