Wednesday, August 17

Daily Farm Photo: 8/17/05


Surprise Bounty On My New Plants

If you would like to see the mature raspberry plants growing on the other side of the greenhouse, click here.

10 comments:

  1. Oh, you are really lucky. This year, I had no raspberry. They were roasted by the sun. I like so much raspberries. I'm so jealous.

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  2. Hi Mijo,
    Oh, I just love raspberries. That's so sad you didn't get any this year. I can completely sympathize, as it has taken me 11 years to finally get a decent crop!

    It might make you feel a little better to read about my trials and tribulations in my post, Really Raspberry Tartlets. You'll also find a deliciously easy recipe for when you do have some raspberries! : )

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  3. Errhmmm. excuse me, I hope you haven't eaten that raspberry yet. Because I can quite clearly see it has my name on it.

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  4. Hi Sam,
    Um, well, uh, I did see your name on it (how did you do that?), but it was really ripe and it just kind of fell off into my hand and then flew up into my mouth and anyway you know what bad travellers fresh raspberries are. . .

    P.S. YUM! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) : )

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  5. Well you have obviously sorted out the rasberry thang.... so when will I start receiving my regular shipments of R jam ? LOL just kidding!

    That is so exciting.... but even more because there are so many green ones yet to come!

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  6. I've never seen raspberry plants before (i.e. on the vine or whatever is the appropriate phrase) - ours are in pre-packed plastic boxes - thanks for the really educational photo :)

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  7. Hi Clare,
    Yes it is exciting--raspberries always are! And I'll add your name to the list. . . : )

    Hi Amy,
    I will do a little research and get back to you. I want to say raspberries need freezing temperatures to grow properly. Anybody else have some answers?

    Hi eatzycath,
    Isn't it neat to see something growing for the first time? I remember when I learned what potato plants look like--I had no idea. Raspberries are considered "brambles," and I know when I order them by mail, they call them "canes," and what you get are little bare sticks with roots. But I would guess you could also refer to them as plants. Who knows! I think everyone would agree that they taste delicious--even if you only see them in little containers! : )

    This photo, though, isn't really representative of what mature plants look like. The canes I planted a couple of years ago (which gave me that earlier harvest) are taller than I am. The berries appear on the two year old canes (okay, now I'm referring to something else as "canes"--confused yet?). They shoot up and grow really quickly. These new little plants I put in this spring (they were "suckers" dug up by a local gardener) are just itty bitty things, which is why I was so surprised to find berries on them. I probably should have pinched off all the blooms so that all the energy would go into the plant and root system (like with new strawberry plants) but I just couldn't do it! : )

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  8. now that was entirely very educational - brambles, canes.. would love to see those gigantic raspberry canes which are taller than you!

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  9. Hi eatzycath,
    Ask and ye shall receive! I have added a link to a photo I took this morning of my mature raspberry plants. They are sort of a tangled mess, as they should be "trained" with stakes and wires so that they are all standing straight up instead of falling over. This is especially important when they are covered with fruit--protects the fruit and lets you get to it much more easily!

    And since you enjoyed that little lesson so much, here is some more raspberry information for you and Amy. It is taken from one of my favorite books, Rodale's Illustrated Encyclopedia Of Gardening And Landscaping Techniques:

    "Bramble fruits are members of the genus Rubus, which belongs to the rose family. They include red raspberries, the most popular; yellow raspberries, which are variations of the reds; black raspberries, a native American plant that has been brought into cultivation [we have wild black raspberries growing on the farm]; purple raspberries, a hybrid between red and black raspberries; and blackberries, a common name used for several native and naturalized species. Dewberries, boysenberries, and loganberries are less well-known, closely related brambles.

    "The raspberry or blackberry fruit is composed of a cluster of tiny fruits, called drupelets, each of which contains one seed. One of the main differences between raspberries and blackberries lies in the receptacle, the core that anchors the berries to the cane. When raspberries ripen, you can slide them right off the receptacle, leaving a hollow center; when you pick blackberries, the core comes off with them.

    "All brambles produce biennial canes, or long, woody stems, that have a two-year lifespan. The first year, the canes grow vigorously but do not flower. During the second season, they flower and produce fruit. The canes die once the fruit matures, but each spring a new crop of canes appears, to produce fruit the next season. Although 'bramble' technically means a prickly shrub or bush, not all of the cultivated varieties have thorns. In addition, despite the berries' reputation for growing into a tangly mess, many of the bramble cultivars now on the market can be grown in neat rows in the garden."

    As far as growing raspberries, the book states that you can expect 1 to 1-1/2 quarts of berries per foot of plant. They prefer "full sun to partial shade. Moist but well-drained soil rich in organic matter; pH 5.5-7.0. Buy 1-year-old, certified disease-free plants. Plant in spring or late fall. Space plants 2-3 ft. apart. Will fruit following year. Zones 4-8.

    "Some cultivars have 1 crop per year; everbearing types produce 2 crops, bearing fruit in summer on 2-year-old canes, and on the current year's canes in fall. Raspberries grow 5-8 ft. Red raspberries are the most disease resistant."

    So that explains how I am getting berries on this year's canes!

    And Amy, as you can see it says raspberries will grow in zones 4-8, so I guess they don't need the freezing temperatures I thought they did. Sounds like as long as you are in zone 8, you can plant away in Florida!

    Hope this helps. Thanks for your comments. I sure learned a lot! : )

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  10. My sister has a friend (of course :p ) her mother got up in the morning in winter and dumped a bucket of ice on the soil around the roots. She got them to grow......

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