Raspberries

Near the very top of my favorite fruits list are raspberries. Not sure what it is, but that barely tart sweetness is unmatched on a summer day, when they’re still warm from the sun. Since everything is a new planting this year, we’ve only gotten a couple handfuls of berries, with maybe a couple more to come. But if the plants get off to a good start, we should have years of raspberry abundance, though I don’t think you could ever have too many.

I planted 10 of the following two varieties, and like most of my small fruits, I got them from Nourse Farms.

Caroline – “Caroline has a larger berry than Heritage and is more productive, with a rich, full, and intense raspberry flavor. It is a very vigorous variety, with more tolerance for root rot than Heritage… Caroline is widely adapted, growing everywhere from the East Coast to the West Coast.”

Taylor – “Taylor is considered by most to be the best-flavored variety of red raspberry you can grow. It yields a light-colored, medium-to-large, long and firm berry. This late-season variety is hardy, vigorous and productive.”

I’ve had some problems growing raspberries in the past, with the heavy, clay soil we have in Ohio, but I find that using a raised bed, even just a couple inches, and creating a sandier soil mix seems to work very well for me. Also, I look for varieties that are more resistant to root rot. They’re pretty low maintenance, don’t require much space, and send out proliferate suckers which turn into new plants, so if you have a little area, I’d definitely recommend throwing a few plants in.