In autumn 1986, Pete discovered a fall-bearing (primocane-fruiting) black raspberry seedling growing in an overgrown area near his home in Poughkeepsie, NY. This photo (right) shows the plant as it appeared in October 1991, after being collected and grown in his garden.

From that genetic material, and with lots of help and lots of reading, Pete has been working a breeding program to improve the fall-bearing black raspberry line, initially in Poughkeepsie, and later in Colorado.

The photo below shows one of the interesting improved selections as berries ripened in October 2005. This selection is identified as numbered selection 9732.C.1.

The photo below shows the Explorer black raspberry, an improved selection that was initially thought to be a candidate for commercialization, but was later found to require an outside pollinator. The selection was patented and named before further work on the selection was abandoned due to the defect discovered during trials.

Commercialization attempts are now centered on a new selection,  PT-2A4, which is self-fruitful. (The photo below was taken September 8, 2009.)