Raspberry Canes

Planting and Care Instructions

Planting the bare root canes

Plant your Raspberry canes in well drained soil in a sunny location. If you have clay-ey soil, you might want to amend it with some well composted manure or garden compost.

Dig a hole deep and wide enough to accommodate the roots adequately—don't crowd them. The canes should be planted three feet apart. If you are planting in rows, they should be at least six feet apart—you want to be able to mow and walk between the rows.

The variety of canes we sold at the plant fair is Prelude‚®. This is a relatively new variety that we have had very good results with. Preludes are everbearing. They begin to bear fruit on two year old canes around June 21-24. (If you are planting canes now you should not expect to have any fruit this June. Come to our fam instead to get a pre-taste. They taper off around the second week in July and bear only small amounts of fruit until Late August, when they begin all over again and continue fruiting until the frist hard frost on the canes that began sprouting over the summer—the Primocanes.

Please see the photographs below for views of what two-year-old canes and primocanes look like.

Illustration 1 2year old cane almost ready to be cut out. Do you see the fleshy green primocane growing next to it?

Illustration 2 A large 2year old cane almost ready to be cut out.

Illustration 4 A large primocae on July 7, 2008 that will bear fruit in late august 2008

Caring for the canes after they fruit.

At the end of the growing and fruiting season you will have two types of canes—green, supple ones and brown, woody ones. Cut out the brown canes to the ground; cut off about 1/3 of the length of the green canes. Make a pile of all of the canes you've cut and burn them, if you live in an area that allows burning. Otherwise, leave them for your town highway cleanup crew to cart away. But if possible, move the pile of cut canes as far away from the rest of the canes as possible—they can carry viruses and house insects. Perform this ritual every year and your berries will continue to grow, spread ,and thrive. The canes will fill in between the plants and will even start spreading into the space between the rows. You can bend back the tips of these canes and bury them part way back so they end up back in the row. After a while, they'll root from the place at which they were buried and start growing from there. Or you can just dig up the errant canes and plant them back in the row. If you want to fertilize the canes, do so with a side dressing of your favorite fertilizer after the first fruiting.

Next spring the parts of the green canes that you left un-cut this fall and winter will begin to appear more woody and brown, will begin sprouting leaves, and will bear fruit around June 24, 2007. And the ritual will begin again.

Picking rasperries

When there is fruit on the canes wait for the dew to dry before heading for the berry patch. Take a set of shallow bowls and pick away.

Remember no picking in the rain or when the berries are wet. The plants will pick up molds spores from your clothing and skin and the leaves and berries will get furry with mold. This layer of mold will usually dry up and die in a few days in good strong sunlight and dry air. But don't risk the chance that you may not have sun in a day or so. Be patient and you'll be rewarded with beautiful juicy red raspberries.

Caring for the Raspberries

If you don't intend to eat the berries right away, you can refrigerate them in the driest part of your refrigerator. Most modern refirgerators have a humidity setting. Turn the moisture or humidity dial to the lowest humidity setting. We have had success keeping our (non-wet) berries for up to a week in a good, dry refrigerator. We recommend that you not wash the berries before eating them if they are grown in an area free of animal waste and have not touched the ground. If you must wash the berries do so only for the amount you plan to eat right away, and just before you intend to eat them. Do not refrigerate wet berries because they will turn to mush and get moldy in very short order. Raspberries ar fragile.

On the rare chance that you have more raspberries than you can possibly eat before they start to get moldy, you can freeze them. Here's how. Line a cookie sheet with paper towels or wax paper and gently spread the berries on it one layer thick. (The weight of several layers of berries will crush the bottom ones, generating juice, that will eventually get moldy.) Place the cookie sheet of berries in the freezer until the berries are completely frozen (a few hours, generally). Then quickly transfer the frozen berries to freezer bags or containers and put them back in the freezer. When you want to enjoy the frozen berries, take out only the amount you want to use in the next few days and let them thaw in a shallow container in the refrigerator. They'll be soft and juicy in a few minutes if left out, in a little while if allowed to thaw in the refrigerator.

Starting in June we'll have a few of our favorite raspberry recipies for you to use.