Growing and using delicious raspberries.

Romancing the Raspberry



By Carly Wall 1800 words

I remember days when I was growing up, gathering wild raspberries. It would be a hot, and dirty job in the early summer, and you had to fight all the insects, but oh, the glorious raspberries! We’d bring home buckets of those tasty morsels and mom would bake a couple pies right away. The rest of the berries were cleaned and frozen to await the day when mom would have time to make jam. Any leftovers were put into quart baskets and we would load up the car to take them to the roadside where we would sell them. And sell them we would---we had people fighting over them. We would usually have enough money from our venture to buy our school clothes for the year, just from the raspberries. Those were the days.
Today, I don’t have access to the wild raspberries, but I do have garden space, and I do have raspberries. They are just as delicious and wonderful as their wild cousins. And as profitable I might add, as well.
The luscious jewels of summer--- the raspberry--- can tempt anyone when made into jam, when sprinkled on desserts, made into raspberry dumplings or baked into a cobbler. But can you tempt the canes into your yard? You bet. It's easy to cultivate, harvest and enjoy them.
BENEFITS
What lures so many to these black, golden, purple, and red berries? Beyond the taste, the berries have been found to greatly benefit our health. The plant itself was important for medicinal uses long before the fruit; raspberry leaf tea is one common use. Herbalists have long known that the leaves contain a substance that helps female reproductive organs, especially the muscles of the pelvic region and the uterus. A tea made from the leaves was known to help ease childbirth and relieve morning sickness. As for the berries themselves, Raspberries were also used as a cure for sore eyes and throats, and to cleanse the teeth.
Today, studies have identified high amounts of phytochemicals within raspberries called antioxidants, including vitamins A, C and E, lycopene, and / or ellagic acid. Recent research suggests that those who regularly consume berries, including the raspberry, may slow the aging process in both the body and the brain as well as help to prevent certain cancers; including colon, breast, esophageal and skin cancers. Black Raspberries have especially high levels of these compounds, with up to twice the amount found in other berries. Dr. Gary Stoner, of Ohio State University, reported that the black raspberries inhibited colon cancer up to 50% in his research. The red raspberry has a bit lesser levels (but it has been noted that the Caroline variety of the red raspberry has the highest levels of any red raspberry tested), and yet all varieties still contain powerful antioxidant compounds, just in varying degrees.
At only 60 calories a cup, with over 8 grams of fiber, how can you go wrong serving up a bowl of fresh berries (with perhaps some cream---for a bit of added calories) for dessert? Yet suppose your love for raspberries extends to a longing to turn the berries into a business?
If so, you may want to contact your local Agricultural Extension agent for more information growing and choosing cultivars good for your particular area, as well as possible brochures on bramble production and other business information.
Those who are serious may want to check out The North American Bramble Growers Association (NABGA). This organization was established as an independent, worldwide organization with members representing a cross section of the industry and providing comprehensive, cutting edge information, to enhance and help your business grow.
NABGA includes a broad spectrum of growers and professionals. Membership includes growers with no more than an acre of berries, to those with more than 70 acres. So small growers as well as the more serious berry farmers can find information to help them. In addition, membership includes nursery operators, processors, marketers, researchers, breeders, extension workers, educators, writers and suppliers to the industry. All share the common need to understand bramble production and the common goal to advance the bramble industry. For more information you can visit their website at: http://www.nabga.com/

TYPES TO CHOOSE
It’s interesting to note that raspberries are actually members of the rose family. No wonder I love them, as I have always had a special place in my heart for roses. But with over 200 different known species, everyone is sure to find a particular variety that fits them. Black raspberries are indigenous to North America. Brambles are more acclimated to colder climates but there are a few tropical and subtropical varieties. It is thought that the raspberry originated in Eastern Asia.
The most popular is the black raspberry, with the red raspberry coming in second. Red raspberries are more cold hardy, have larger berries and more erect canes. The black raspberries are smaller and seedier, with arching canes, but the berries are more aromatic. Purple raspberries are hybrids between the black and red, and have a growing habit similar to the black. The yellow or golden raspberries are newer to the scene and slowly growing to be a hot gourmet or specialty item as they tend to be a little more delicate and are hard to ship, so would make for a good local crop to offer to bakeries and markets. It’s just a matter of picking what qualities are most important for you. I happen to love them all, for all their differences---the black, for flavor; the red for giant soft berries; the yellow for their unusual color. I have yet to try the purple but I’ll bet this variety combines the best of both worlds.
There are two varieties of plant, those called summerbearing, and everbearing. The summerbearing berry produces one crop in early summer, while the everbearers can produce two crops; one in the spring and the second in the fall. And there are thornless, as well as the prickly types.
If the red variety appeals to you, there’s one called Liberty, which has a good freezing quality. And then there’s a purple variety called Brandywine that they say has large fruit great for jams and jellies, and produces more vigorously than the black raspberry. For a great black raspberry it’s hard to beat Bristol, an early ripening cane with large, glossy fruit, and it’s a very vigorous and productive variety. The most known of the yellows is Fall Gold, which produces medium sized fruits with great flavor. It’s a matter of looking through the lists of different varieties, colors, bloom times, cane habits, and growing needs--- and finding one that most suits your tastes and interests.
PLANTING AND CARING
Raspberries are pretty easy to care for, but are most productive in sandy loam soils that are well drained. They should be planted in an open site with 6-8 hours of sunlight available to them daily. Early autumn is the best time to plant, but you can also plant in the spring.
Create weed-free beds, making sure that you pick out the roots of all perennial weeds. Bindweed and couch grass are the most trouble since raspberries are shallow rooters and deep cultivation can harm your berry plants. You may also want to choose a site that is against a wall or fence so that you can easily secure the canes with lengths of strong string. The canes will lie on the ground unless staked, especially so if laden with heavy fruit.
Work in generous compost, and remember that a mulch of straw, sawdust or grass clippings can help hold in moisture and aid in keeping the weeds at bay. It is also a good idea to dig in a little dressing of superphosphate.
One of the biggest mistakes made is planting raspberries too deep. The roots should be covered with soil no more than three inches. If you’ve just gotten your canes from a nursery, you can probably see the soil mark on the stem. That’s the correct depth and you should be careful to follow that marking.
To begin planting, dig out a shallow trench and set the canes in position, spreading out the roots evenly. Gently replace the soil around each cane, making sure the canes are erect, and press the ground firmly. But don’t heel the plant in! Since the roots are so shallow, your weight might just damage those tender roots. After planting, cut the canes back to 2 foot and cover with a good layer of mulch.
You won’t want to let your canes crop the first year. With new plantings, they must be pruned in the early spring down to a visible bud and about 10 inches above the soil line. What this does is keep the growing focus on the roots, so that they will be strong and healthy. Suckers will spring up from the roots and these will be the ones that will carry your fruit next season.
In your second summer, after the berries have been picked, cut all the fruited canes to soil level and new canes will replace these. All pruning should be burned to prevent spreading disease or pests.
And that brings us up to the subject of insect and disease. In all the years of growing raspberries, I’ve never encountered much trouble, except for the dreaded Japanese beetle. I’ve been fighting this insect for quite a while and it seems to love both my roses and my raspberries (surprise, surprise). There are many ways to fight the beetle, which is a pest that feeds on over 300 different types of plants. I try to keep my farm organic as possible, so I patrol my plants regularly picking off the insects. And I encourage natural predators, like certain species of wasps, which parasitize white grubs (infant Japanese beetles), as well as resorting to the aromatic bags that lure the beetles to their death with pheromones. These work pretty well and I enjoy tying a knot on the full bag of squirming varmints and throwing it in the trash at the end of the day; a little barbaric, but if you fight these beasts, you’ll know what I mean. Other insect problems include the raspberry cane borer, raspberry fruitworm, and the red-necked cane borer. Adult cane borers attack foliage, often feeding on the upper leaf surfaces during the day leaving irregular holes. Regular pruning usually takes care of this problem.

Diseases to watch for include mosaic virus, orange rust, and anthracnose, cane blight, spur blight, crown or cane gall and verticillium wilt. The control of virus diseases is based on preventing the initial infection by removing sources of virus near the planting, mainly wild bramble bushes as well as the insects that carry the diseases. Plants should be examined throughout the season for virus infection symptoms. These include any spots or marks on the foliage. Raspberry leaves should be nice and dark green without any wilting. If symptoms are detected, the plant must be removed. Strict aphid control should be maintained to prevent infection. These measures are all very important to the lifetime of a planting, since, once infected with a virus, the plant will remain infected for life. If you keep your canes tied, pruned, inspected, and cleanly mulched you should have very little to worry with.
And that’s about all there is to it. That reminds me, it’s teatime. I think I’ll go harvest some raspberry leaves and make my favorite tea…. And dream of some new varieties of raspberries to try.

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