Several times through married life Kramer and I tried to made a go of raising strawberries. We were NEVER successful. Weeds got us. We didn’t remove old plants. That got us. They never took…we tried raised beds. UGH. Nothing worked and we gave up. It really was a valiant try.
When we moved to the house in town I mentioned to Kramer that I’d like to try again. Nope. He was not on board.
So I went to the end of the year clearance sale at the nursery in 2016. I bought horseradish and raspberries. I decided maybe I couldn’t do right by strawberries but I might be able to manage raspberries. Kramer was not thrilled. He started in on where were we putting them he didn’t like raspberries. Well I said on the west side of the garage and that’s where I planted four plants. They grew quickly into this…
Mine are early berries so we’ve started picking them.
Some of my helpers LOVE them and love picking. They eat most of what they pick and that’s okay. That’s part of what gardeners truly love about gardening.
The other’s picked a few, tried them and were back off to play. This little one loved them and stayed.
I’ll admit…raspberries are one of my favorites….very favorites.
This fall I’l trimming them back. In the short couple years since we first planted, they are already growing everywhere.
For now, me and the kiddos are enjoying them!!
I wish I had more room….I’d have black raspberries too!!
Yum…..lucky you…they look so good.
We have raspberries – way easier than strawberries! And delicious!! We have a few strawberry plants and we had berries – until it wouldn’t stop raining and having a river running thru our garden, they got too wet and rotted. The raspberries are just fine. Good choice!
Raspberries are my favorite, too. I cut mine back each year and still get a great harvest. This is a great lesson to the kids where their food comes from an they are outside. Enjoy-mine are not quite ready yet.
Your post reminded me of the book “Where’d you go Bernadette” which has a funny chapter about blackberry bushes and a neighborhood disagreement!
The best part of little people getting to pick food and eat it immediately as they develop an appreciation for good food and where it comes from. And standing barefoot eating warm raspberries is a perfect summer memory.
Awesome! And that bowl of raspberries you are holding would cost a lot in the store. My Mom always used to make raspberry jelly.
Lovely berries, Jo! Truly one of the best things to plant as they are delicious ( and expensive in stores) My little 18 mth old grandson picked the first ones off my thornless variety today. Oh, the look on his face!
I love the pictures of you holding your berries. You look great, Jo!!
I do love some good raspberries but never had luck with them either. We had wild blackberries in the back that grew in spite of me. Lots of jams and sweetened for breakfast!
Love and prayers
I have raspberries, too. Two varieties. My early variety just started producing. The late ones will keep me picking until October. It gets to be a long season, but … Raspberry Pie! Yum. We cheat and purchase a Keebler shortbread crust and use Junket Danish Dessert pie glaze. No baking- and it’s so fresh tasting.
Raspberries and blackberries are my favorite!!! My grandpa use to grow them and I remember picking and eating them as I picked! Great memories! Your kiddos will have great memories too!!!
We live on wet hard pan clay. Very few things will grow or if they have, it’s been good for a season or two then the clay sucks the life out of them!
I tried growing blueberries in the raised bed my HH built around the perimeter of our yard but I came to realize, they drained too quickly and blueberries like often damp feet. The mother’s day before last, my daughter gifted me with 2 new bushes. They grew! This spring we put in 4 more plants of 3 different varieties and wow! What a harvest! My 2 little Blueberry Monsters are enjoying a very nice harvest! HH even built a modular ‘castle’ with the same wide screening on the top to keep the birdies out while the berries were ripening. Wouldn’t you know, one hardworking sparrow managed to crawl into a 3” hole created by a dip in the soil. He was surely glad when we lifted the roof! Everyone staring at him to figure out how he got in there made him a little nervous! And if he did any snacking, that’s ok, one hardworking birdie, no damage done!
The secret to Strawberries, and this was a hard earned lesson, Plant them high on a soil berm or piled up dirt(at least 14 inches high. Cover with weed sheeting and cut slashes all around the plant(this makes it easy for them to spread. Fertilize in Spring and Autumn with high nitrogen(10-10-10). Planting them high lets them drain easily. The first year strawberries do not fruit. The second and third years have a bumper crop. Good luck!
What do you feed those babies!!?? They’re gorgeous! Maybe I’ll try blackberries next year — I do truly love them.
my raspberries are not doing good this year. They are small . The bushes are looking good, so I don’t know what is the matter with the berries. I have them on the West side of my garden shed, Last year I didn’t have any berries. I keep the bed cleaned of weeds, so that isn’t my problem. I will let them grow one more year and then if they don’t do good, I will get rid of them. They have spread to a very large area, so I don’t know what the problem . I’ve not had any problems before last year. Maybe they are just getting too old.