Organic Gardener

It's the Berries

Author: Pat Leuchtman

Raspberries are delicious, fragile and expensive. That's three good reasons to grow them in the home garden. They don't take much work, and the birds don't like them. Two more good reasons.

Three years ago when I was thinking about adding more perennial crops to our garden, I decided there was no reason to procrastinate. We bought 25 raspberry plants.

We thoroughly cultivated the soil, tilling in compost and rotted chicken manure from our hen house, as well as rock phosphate and greensand for potassium. Raspberries need a pH level of between 5.6 and 6.2.

Then we set out the plants in three rows. We followed recommendations and spaced them about 18 inches apart with three feet between the rows. We mulched with cardboard and straw between the rows.

We did not immediately trellis the canes and this was a mistake. Many of the canes are six feet tall. Especially when the canes are carrying ripe berries, they bend over and make it difficult to walk down the row and pick.

I recommend a double T trellis, with a support at either end of the row. Then run two wires on either side of the row attaching to the T bars, one at about 3 feet, and one at about 4-1/2 feet to support the arching canes. This will make it easier to pick the berries, and to prune the canes.

Raspberries are actually a biennial. A shoot is sent up the first year, it will fruit the second year, and then die. The old canes need to be removed after fruiting, and some of the new canes will need to be thinned out. Take them out at ground level with a pruning shears, or a pruning knife.

It is essential to do the thinning. You'll be amazed at how many shoots come up each year. A thinned row will get more sun and be more productive.

Adequate moisture is necessary to create large berries; dry weather will cause the berries to be small. If there is no rain for a week, give them a good drenching, especially in June and July.

There are early, mid and late raspberries for a long season.

I like raspberries on cereal, on ice cream, in jam and on tarts? How many ways can you enjoy raspberries?

Help us to spread the word:

Pat Leuchtman

Pat has been gardening for 40 years and writing about gardens and gardeners almost as long. Her weekly column, Between the Rows, has been carried in The Recorder (Greenfield, Mass) since 1981.
Read more about Pat.

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