Sunday, August 03, 2008

Multiples of Edibles


Raspberry bushes..... 2 rows full...


Grew to the height of me..... 5' 7"....



Ready for picking..... 4 boxes a day



Into the freezer..... enough for 1 year...



52 pints for 52 weeks...



Raspberries... Rubus idaeus... cool season crop... grow best in sunny location in well drained soil, where there is plenty of moisture (I guess fog must count)... keep weed free in the beginning ... rows can be allowed to become about 3 feet wide so it is easy to reach the fruit, from either side of the row... permanent supports of post and wire, protect them from being beaten down with winter snowfall... my rows are each about 25' long...

My variety of raspberries grow fruit only on second-season canes and this was my first season to harvest my incredible edibles... in the fall all the old canes that bore fruit this year, should be pruned out of the patches; they will be the woody brown ones... so as to give the new first season canes room to grow; they will be the green pliable ones...

Be careful... raspberries will take over if they have half a chance...  Mow or whipper-snip around them to keep them where they are suppose to be...


... for now, time to gather up some raspberry recipes....

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34 comments:

woolydaisy said...

wow! how gorgeous and lush-they must love that fog-raspberries are my favorite!!!!! make some rapsberry corn cakes for breakfast-yum!

Anonymous said...

This is pure beauty to me.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thank you Corine!

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Hey Wooly, thanks for the recipe idea.. what a great combo of flavours!

Anet said...

Groan..... I love Raspberries! You and Ruth showing these beautiful berries and all I can do is buy the market ones!
I am drooling with envy!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh I wish you were here Anet... I'd share these with you... they are really producing more than my wildest dreams... They are so easy to grow.. I'd give you all the bushes you could use... as it is I have to mow some and till others that travelled into the pathway .. & it is such a shame

sandy said...

This is so inspiring!!! I have got to start a garden some day. Its' just all the critters and birds, yet I know I can work around that problem.

Gwen Buchanan said...

oh sure Sandy, that's easy.. just plant extra for them.. ha..ha..

annette emms said...

Morning Gwen. Those raspberries look so pretty, they are my favoutites too!
Mike's mum has a recipe for delicious 'Raspberry and Redcurrant Jam', would you like it?

Ruth said...

Raspberries are my absolute favorite food in the world I think. I'm astonished by these rows of bushes (trees!) and the crop you got for a whole year. Do you wash them, then freeze them on a cookie sheet, then put them in freezer bags?

Don and I should plant some of these, since we love them so much. Funny, Don doesn't like anything raspberry flavored if it's artificial flavoring, tastes like medicine. But he loves the fresh ones too. My favorite is on ice cream. But just plain, they are heaven.

Beautiful images.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh Thank you, Annette! This is such a generous offer ... I would simply adore Mikes' mum's "Raspberry and Redcurrant Jam"... Yummy!!!
that is so thoughtful of you!! Hope you have a great day....

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Hi Ruth, Oh you should plant some if you have a spot for them to spread out a bit.. They are so super easy and really hardy.. just till between the rows or mow and you are all set.. I really can't believe the output of them... I pick them every other day...

Well I have to say, As we are not near a highway and there is lots of air movement, I don't wash them first.. they are nice and clean... yes, i just spread them on cookie sheets and then into freezer bags the next day...
I have been having them warm, just off the canes, slightly mashed with a bit of sugar with home made bread..
oh I love them with ice cream too...

Sharon said...

They look absolutely incredible and I can't believe how tall they are!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Mom told me in the spring that she likes to trim hers shorter, for easier picking... I always have a hard time cutting things back, incase they never grow again!!

Anonymous said...

One day I would like to live in a cool enough climate to grow raspberries. Your photography is delicious, you can feast off the page.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hillary, These little guys are so prolific that I assumed they must grow anywhere..

Funny isn't it we are always wishing for warmer weather!!!

Don said...

I like the way you store the berries away for year-round use. Ruth and I always talk about finding better ways to use our blackberries and not just for jam or syrup. We need to get a freezer!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Don, when ya avoid going to town like we do... we need 2 refrigerators and a big chest freezer.. that old chest freezer my dad found for us back in '93 and it was about 20 yrs old then...and it is still going strong, although not much to look at...

why don't they make things to last that long anymore.. isn't all that technology that's going around worth anything? any more?

Arija said...

Gwen you are the sort of person I would love to blueberrying with. I quite dreadfully miss wild blueberries. Your Raspberries are magical. When I created my firsr veggie patch on the farm I put in three rows of them, beautifylly staked like yours. Ten yrs later they where everywhere. Overran the whole patch and migrated throught the semi-circle of espaliered fruit trees.Hubby didn't like it much but I thoroughtly enjoyed fighting my way through to pick the berries and watch out for imaginary bars. My dranddaughters just broke ground for two new rows where I can save the few remaining plants after last yrs's drought and salty water finished most of them off. Loved your visit, do come again. If you freeze the berries stirred through quickly with caster sugar they retain their freshly picked flavour. I use various sized boxes.

mansuetude said...

Your post is lush, not just the images, but the way you present it. I wonder, if you were 6 foot tall would they reach higher? :)

i knew an old farmer in Newbury MA who once gave me a puree of that day's warm raspberries on vanilla ice cream. It was so so (mouth watering) good. Enjoy the bounty.

Gwen Buchanan said...

That's funny mansuetude... now i have to start wearing high heels in the garden to give it a test!!!

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Oh no Arija, not through your fruit trees... I love espaliered trees... they always remind me of an old English or European garden that is well cared for and pampered... I have never tried espaliering...

i am so sorry about the salt water.. do you think the winter will bring enough moisture to help fill you water storage dams.. I saw a news article about the severe dry conditions in Australia just a couple days ago.. and the desperate situations that the farmers are facing... It makes me so sad..
I hope you new raspberry patch comes along nicely and stays where it is told. sort of like a good dog..
oh and I would love to join you to ...go blueberrying and I'll try some sugar mixed with the next raspberries i freeze.. thanks so much...

denise said...

Oh - that is amazing!!!!! I love that. I planted one cane last year and this summer it has taken over the entire porch end, so looks like I will have more than just a few berries here and there next summer...but never that many! Your patches are much bigger than our entire yard. YUM.

I heard that I can split out any extra canes from where they are growing and transplant to other areas too, so I am ripping out some bushes for raspberry canes this fall.

They look so perfect - no insect or birds nibbling there?

Gwen Buchanan said...

Oh you should have a good bunch next year, Denise.. the boys will love it..

I have longer rows than I had planned as my mother was digging up lots and lots of plants that traveled to her pathways and I couldn't see them go to waste... but I still only planted 1/2 of them and ended up giving the rest away to another lucky soul...

This has been a really good year. No mosquito or blackflies much. And now there are so many birds coming to the garden, that there hasn't been many bug problems this year either...

All except those aphids on my lovage...!!!

jo horswill said...

Raspberries are my favorite berries.
I live in a cool climate area, and have often thought about growing my own...after looking at your beautiful photo's, I may have to start a patch too. Enjoy your berries Gwen...

Anonymous said...

Hi Gwen! Oh, stop it!!! If I weren't already envious enough of where you live, now I'm positively green!!! (No pun intended, but not bad, right?!?) What an incredible blessing and treat to have your own raspberries to pick and savor. I know you and your family will enjoy them all year long. I've missed you, hope you are all well! xoxo, Kathy

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Kathy, I have really been loving the work you have been doing on your Calligraphy... I love beautiful letters..

In case anyone is interested in the beauty that Kathy creates... her use of color is stimulating...

and ...DA da!! Kathy has just recently been featured in the magazine " Artful Blogging"... we have a star in our midst!!!
Congratulations!!!!

Her blog name is "Love Letters" and this is her blog address... check it out...
http://kathymccreedy.typepad.com/love_letters/

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Gwen Buchanan said...

Hi Jo ,
I wish you were closer (but 1/2 way around the world is about as far as you can get on this planet)... as I would laden you with lovely young canes to start a patch.. They are the easiest and the most productive plant in my garden for sure...

Jazz said...

Those are some lovely raspberries... Frozen raspberry smoothies, Yum

Guillaume said...

I lvoe raspberries, I love picking them too.

Hope this comment gets here, recently for some reason it disappears.

ArtPropelled said...

You've no idea what those photos are doing to my taste buds. I would grow some too except they would be pure monkey feast.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Jazz, Guillaume, and Robyn.. the warm sweet tangy scent of raspberries are almost as good as the fruit..
I love to stand in amongst the really ripe clusters and taking a deep breath... ahhh..... it makes the nostrils flare trying to gather it all up...
and Robyn, watching the monkeys would be almost as great a past time... don't know about smelling them though... haha

kate said...

Yum! I love picking raspberries even more than I love eating them! And raspberry pie is one of my favourites. Thanks for this juicy post!

Guillaume said...

Those pics remind me of the time I was picking raspberries in my uncle's garden. He had loads, getting them was a joy in itself.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Guillaume, So this brings back memories to you.. I'm glad.. I remember getting lost in my grandfathers patch in his backyard too... Ah, joys of youth...

J said...

My sweet lord that is beautiful!

We have a single raspberry bush out back and we are thrilled - I can imagine the rush from having two full rows!

We have a row of strawberries out front but rarely get to eat any - the rabbits and the little 5 yo girl next door usually beat us to it. That's OK, they need'em more than we do.

Gwen Buchanan said...

Hey J...at least you are being kind to the kids and the critters!!!

The raspberries are ready to pick again.. I just can't believe it.. it has been a really good summer for them...