Fine to simply plant into the pasture, then mulch with any combination of cardboard and compost. Or mulch first and plant through it as I did here http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/content/december-2012-updated-16th. If doing that again I would put cardboard on the compost before covering with fabric, and the fabric is optional – it excludes less light than I had realised before I bought it.
Second, I would buy new canes/small plants as they will crop healthily by their second year and be much easier to plant.