Depressing.....or Possibilities?

I cleaned out the berry garden about a week ago and in the process, made myself a vacant garden bed, ready to be planted.  Normally that would be something I’d be happy about, but the reason it is now vacant is because every raspberry & blackberry bush I had planted last year had died.  Now I have an empty garden bed and I haven’t decided what to do with it.  Paul was talking about making another larger raspberry / blackberry patch on one of the sloping hills and maybe I’ll just put new bushes there instead.  But my thinking was that I would keep it a permanent perennial garden and have it fenced from the scratching & snacking chickens.  I suppose we could start grapes there, but I’d honestly like to have a larger area for them.  I’ve also been thinking about planting hazelnut bushes and maybe that would be a good place for them.  Guess I’ll be thumbing through the garden magazines again.

Anyone have an idea for what type of fruit / berry / something yummy I could start here?  Something that will come up year after year.  We’re in zone 6B.  The area is approximately 4 ½’ wide x 20’ long with some late afternoon shade.  Not sure what type of soil we have (acid / alkaline) because I haven’t tested it yet (bad gardener, no parsnip).

I’d love to hear your suggestions.  Pretty please!  (Insert whiney voice here)