Rockin Raspberries

Growing up, my Nana had a lovely garden. In the summer time, her raspberry bushes would be ready to pick, and it was my job to pick them. My brother and I would go out to her bushes and pick (and eat most of) her raspberries that she would then make into jam. My uncle transplanted some from her garden to his own, and then gifted me with 2 bushes. (Actually there were 3, but I killed one…) Last year I got just enough fruit to make one batch (6 jars) of jam. My two little bushes definitely love the Kansas climate as they have quadrupled in size! I’ve already picked 2 batches worth of berries, and there are still more to be picked as soon as they ripen. I also have another whole plant ready to be transplanted in with the rest.

Raspberry plants are fairly easy to cultivate. New shoots come up around the time the berries start to ripen. You can cut the shoots so they don’t grow too tall, or do what I’ve done and let them go hog-wild. I don’t recommend the later. I’ll be pruning for next year’s harvest for sure. The new shoots will turn brown and you will think they died, but they haven’t. Those are what will produce fruit next year. This years shoots will die, and if you don’t cut them out, they will make for a mess come next year. I speak from experience of course. These raspberries were actually my great-great grandmothers, and they are pretty rare. They are especially rare to find in Kansas, so I feel like I have the best plants in the state. My uncle is impressed with the amount of fruit I’m getting because it’s a struggle to get a lot of fruit in New York (upstate).

This year I’m hoping to produce enough to make a few batches of jam and start selling it as a seasonal item. Since the fruit doesn’t come from a store, but from my actual garden, I feel like it’s special. These raspberries are very sweet too. I don’t even really need to add sugar for them. I don’t add any sugar when I eat them off the bush. I tasted them compared to a few I’ve bought from a couple stores, and feel like they are wayyyyy better. I hope to start having a large garden of raspberry bushes so I can also start selling them as raw fruit and not jam. We will see… future dreams and all that.

From baby plant to fruit for jam: