It's raspberry picking time

[Larryh86GT]

This is this afternoon's pickings from my row of raspberries. Just a little over a pound and a half. Into the freezer and soon to become a nice wine.

Larry

 

[BobF]

Good looking buncha berries. Mine are just beginning to bud. Hot as it is, I hope the berries take a good long while to set.

 

[WineYooper]

My plants are loaded with green berries and probably 2-3 weeks out yet. I can't wait. Blackberries here are probably mid to late August and I can't wait. My apple trees in Northern Michigan are loaded this year and are actually dropping some because it's been so dry there. I'm hoping this will cause the others to grow larger since there are not as many for the tree to carry. I have about 25 trees that I mow around and many more mixed in the woods with other trees. It used to be an old farmstead and I'm sure the cows and deer have spread the seeds and they propagated from that. I've counted around a hundred throughout the woods. The deer love them. Good picking!

 

[Larryh86GT]

I picked just under 2 lbs yesterday and thought that had to be the peak. But today I picked about 3 lbs. Right now, in the freezer, the total for this crop is at 12 lbs so far.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Those look to good to freeze, EAT EM. I live id Raspberry capital and I have a path worn to bathroom, but they are worth it

 

[roblloyd]

Looks good. I was thinking of doing blackberry as I probably picked about 6 containers like that the past couple weeks. My problem is the kids eat most of them before they even make it into the house. Better than junk food and they love picking them.

 

[davewaz]

Raspberry question, last year I bought a Raspberry vine from home depot, it fruited, then winter came. This year it reemmerged and fruited again. All around it there are about a dozen similar looking plants, but none of them gave fruit. Do you think these are also raspberry's? There leaves are a bit bigger and greener,but are similar in shape and the stalks are covered in thorns just like my original plant.

 

[davewaz]

I forgot to mention these plants are circled around my original plant, sorry to hijack the thread but I figured the Raspberry pro's would be hanging out here

 

[BobF]

davewaz -

It sounds like you have summer bearing plants. The similar plants around those you planted are more canes sprouting from the roots of those you planted. This is a good thing as long as you keep them thinned.

The canes that didn't fruit this year (primocanes) will likely fruit next year when they are floricanes.

I'm adding links to some great info on raspberries and other small fruits ...
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1421.html

Titled for Missouri, but iniversally applicable in general
http://mtngrv.missouristate.edu/assets/publications/MS14SmallFruitPruning.pdf

 

[Larryh86GT]

Those look to good to freeze, EAT EM. I live id Raspberry capital and I have a path worn to bathroom, but they are worth it

Eating them is good but they make a really nice wine.

Raspberry question, last year I bought a Raspberry vine from home depot, it fruited, then winter came. This year it reemmerged and fruited again. All around it there are about a dozen similar looking plants, but none of them gave fruit. Do you think these are also raspberry's? There leaves are a bit bigger and greener,but are similar in shape and the stalks are covered in thorns just like my original plant.

Yes, those are raspberres you have growing. I have heritage raspberries which are "everbearing raspberries". They produce a early summer crop and a late summer crop. The new brambles that are coming out of the ground now (since spring usually) produce berries in the late summer then the bramble winters over and next early summer will produce another crop of berries. Then these brambles turn yellow and die while the new spring brambles are getting larger and getting ready to produce. I cut the yellowing dying brambles out soon after they are done producing which helps thin out the row some so you can get at the next crop.

 

[davewaz]

Great!!!, thanks for the news guys, the link was very helpfull, looks like I will have a boat load of Raspberry's next year

 

[Deezil]

Those berries make my mouth water, Larry. Looooove raspberries!

I only have two canes giving me raspberries this year, they're the 'Canby'. Good quality berries, but not an ever-bearing variety. I've probably got 1lb so far, hard to tell though - i eat them as fast as i pick them

I have another 11 canes growing this year though. My berries are in buckets right now, with tomato hoops holding them up. I had 1 bucket of raspberries with the 2 canes from last year, when the season started. Had 5 canes come up right around the base of last years canes - i left those in the bucket. Had 6 other canes come up around the sides of the bucket & would have been a struggle to keep them within the tomato hoops, so i now have 3 buckets of raspberries. 3 canes each in the 2 new buckets - 1 bucket took off and is almost as tall as the canes that didnt get transplanted/shocked, while the other bucket..... Not so much, but im hoping the roots survive so they can thrive in time.



ps: everything is in buckets because we rent, and i plan on taking my hard work with me until we find a house worth buying
pps: currently have 10 gallons of red raspberry, 6.5 gallons of golden raspberry, bulk aging - can afford to give these canes a few years to go "Crazy enough for a batch of wine"
ppps: anyone know a good gold variety? I was thinking Fall Gold..

 

[Larryh86GT]

ps: everything is in buckets because we rent, and i plan on taking my hard work with me until we find a house worth buying

You better get cracking on finding a house to buy - those canes want out of the buckets.

I haven't grown gold raspberries. I wonder how gold raspberry wine compares to red raspberry wine?


Larry

 

[Deezil]

I'll let ya know, both are bulk aging. Done both in a similar fashion, same yeast even, for the sake of finding out myself. Had 84lbs of golden raspberries and 112lbs of red raspberries. I got about the same amount of juice out of each color (5-6 gallons), but i had to add 5 gallons of water to the red raspberry due to the massive amounts of pulp - it didnt ferment prior because it was too thick

 

[Julie]

You better get cracking on finding a house to buy - those canes want out of the buckets.

I haven't grown gold raspberries. I wonder how gold raspberry wine compares to red raspberry wine?


Larry

We have a local winery that makes a gold raspberry wine. They can not keep it in stock. I swear the sell as fast as he bottles it. The gold is a little more mellower than red.

 

[Minnesotamaker]

I've been getting about half a gallon of raspberries off my bushes each day now for just over a week. Already canned 18 jars of jam, froze a bunch for wine, and I'm going to can some jars of raspberry sauce with the ones I have in the fridge. Gooseberries are going gangbusters too. They're all going in the freezer for wine.

 

[Larryh86GT]

This crop is just about done and thank goodness for that. Picking 2-3 lbs takes and hour or so to do and in this heat this is work.