Raspberry Rumble

Raspberries (rubus idaeus) belong to the rubus family which includes blackberries, thimbleberries, brambleberries, tayberries, etc. and can readily cross breed with them, so new varieties are constantly coming out. Some people find them invasive–but honestly, what’s so bad about a fruit that vigorously propagates itself? I don’t know anyone who might go, I have too many raspberries. I suppose, if one prefers everything to be in nice, neat rows, then one might find the running nature of raspberries to be uncontrollable. But I like them, rooting here and there until it forms a thicket that deters the deer that tend to sample my garden, and provides a cover for my ducks if a predator so happens to be near by.

They can be a bit prickly, but they are lovely–and I’m not the only one who thinks so–ants seem to love getting to ones that are close to the ground.

I mulch my plants heavily so most of the time they don’t have an issue with lack of watering, but raspberries in general love well drained soil, regardless if it’s sandy or not. They tolerate drought well, and do fine in part shade where mine are. They’re very winter hardy, although some of the canes did die, the plant itself survived and came back even more vigorously than last year.

Some people recommend pruning the canes (for fruit growing on branches of the main cane are said to be inferior to new canes), but I don’t bother and still get a decent crop from them. It’s honestly not a big deal to me as I don’t mind rummaging in them (even if they are a bit pointy) to hunt for the berries. However, do what makes you comfortable, and you should always follow an expert’s advice over an insane lady with enough time on her hands to experiment.

They tiproot as well as sent up volunteers, so propagating does not seem like it will be an issue for me. I actually want to move some to line the very back of the property, forming a thorny fence to prevent the deer from easily coming in next year, but I’ll wait until these new ones get a bit bigger.

I have yellow, black, and red varieties because I love the rainbow of colors they give. My red ones seem to be the first to ripen, but the others will soon follow.