Sweet October Raspberries

Raspberries in little plastic packages in grocery stores don't get my attention. Raspberries directly from a farm I could make an exemption for, but I know that shortly after they've been picked, delicious raspberries start deteriorating quite quickly. I say all this because really the best way to enjoy raspberries is to pick them one by one off the plant and eat them right then and there in the garden, as I've been lucky enough to do my entire life.

As a little kid I learned early on to look inside and all around the freshly picked raspberry to see if any ants had clung on to the fruit, and if there was one or two, I'd blow them off as if I was blowing out birthday candles and then pop the raspberry right into my mouth. The flavor! The darker the raspberry, the sweeter it would be, but once the darkest ones were eaten sometimes I couldn't help myself from eating the raspberries that were lighter in color. It was the best after-school activity... walk home from school and pause in the garden for a quick gorge - it was the ultimate after-school snack.

Raspberries grow on canes covered in mild thorns. Grown unchecked, they can take over half your garden in just a few years. That had happened to us and I have great memories of my parents dressed in long pants and long sleeved shirts wading into the raspberry patch and coming back out with great big metal bowls full of raspberries, their clothes stained with bits of sweet red juice. The resulting jam would last us through the winter, spread on toast with butter or blended with yogurt and a banana and orange juice for a smoothie. It was divine.

Our raspberry plants have a long lineage. I have no idea what variety they are but I do know that they fruit twice a year, once in the summer and again in the autumn. They've been in the garden all 28 years of my life and the original plant here came from my grandparents' house, where raspberries were growing before they moved in back in the 60's! You get the idea. These plants want to grow and they want to produce and they are easy to transplant and grow for yourself and for your family with very little fuss. It's a wonderful investment for future generations!