How to Grow Raspberries

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PHOTO: FOTALIA/LINDO
Growing raspberries means you can enjoy their sweet, straight-from-the-vine taste each summer.

Strange as it may sound, some of my most vivid and enchanting childhood memories concern days spent walking dusty country lanes under a scorching summer sun because there, among the weeds and bushes of the unkempt hedgerows, I’d see thick, tangled red raspberry brambles. I can clearly recall toddling along behind my mother as she stripped the leaning canes of their red jewels. The fruit smell seemed to fill the air, sunlight bounced in a green kaleidoscope from the leaves, and I was thrilled to see an occasional garter snake hanging heat drugged among the branches of a bush. Best of all, now and then my mother would pop an especially succulent sun-warmed berry into my mouth and let me relish the special sweet/tart taste that only a fresh picked raspberry offers.

Because of those magical yesterdays, I’ve always associated summer with that rose hued fruit. Now that I’m older, I’ve learned that the unique, palate-pleasing nature of the red raspberry is due to the fact that the little fruits contain an unusually high number of esters, volatile organic compounds that — in combination with acids and such — produce distinctive flavors and fragrances. And, while there are two esters in blackberries, three in cherries, four in apricots, and five in strawberries, the red raspberry sports a total of nine of these ephemeral tastemakers! To find that fresh, unmatched taste in your own backyard, read on to learn everything you need to know about how to grow raspberries.

How to Grow Raspberries: The Basics

Raspberries, which belong to the rose family (Rosaceae), have been cultivated in England for centuries. In fact, they were among the first fruits brought here by North America’s original colonizers. The red razz most commonly grown today is a hybrid of the European species (Rubusidaeus)—which takes its name from the fact that the berries were found on Greece’s Mount Ida in the days of Carolus Linnaeus—and the wild North American species (Rubusstrigosus). Over the centuries, many different raspberry varieties have been developed, including the black, purple, and yellow strains, and even some types that bear fruit twice in one season! (The off color raspberries require slightly different care than red ones do, and I won’t  discuss them in this article.)

Prepping the Raspberry Plot

  • Published on Jul 1, 1983
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