Friday, October 3, 2014

Raspberries!

I've always loved raspberries, and to have my own is so much fun, although getting enough to do anything with has been a long time coming!

In April of 2012, I bought 3 tiny plants off of a wagon at a farm supply store for $2 each.  I planted them behind my garden shed.

The dogs dug them up.  Three.  Times.

Thus, the fancy barrier around the bushes, in hopes of preventing more digging under the shed.  Who knows what they were looking for...


I think this picture was taken the next spring.

They grew.  A lot...

Now they overhang into the chicken pen, and the chickens love them!  For a while, they were fluttering up onto the top of the fence and now I know why.  They were eating all the berries they could find...


I was thrilled to find out that these raspberry bushes are ever bearing.  I'd never even heard of that!  Once they start to ripen, the plants produce until frost!

This summer the Japanese Beetles did a number on the bushes, and I sprayed them. I had to wait a week before harvesting any more, but thankfully, they made a full recovery, and are once again doing their thing. I don't get a lot at once, but every two or three days I go down and gather the ripe ones...about two cups at a time, and put them into the freezer.

This is my stash from the past month...


So...guess what I'm doing this afternoon?!

I'm thinking jelly.  Mmmm...on hot buttered toast.  My mouth is watering!

And oh yeah... shopping for a new dishwasher too.  Ours has flooded this morning for the last time.

11 comments:

  1. oh, you lucky, lucky girl! well, i know you had to fight to keep them alive and for yourselves, but...

    i buy mine at the grocery store...

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  2. Oh how wonderful lots of YUMMIES ! I would make tarts, pies and cakes with all that to ! We had a dishwasher that did that to and out it went lol ! Hope you have a good weekend !

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  3. I love raspberries! As a kid I picked them for money... not much money, but they are still my favorite berry with blueberries coming in 2nd

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  4. Wow, the perfect plants for a busy lady...It all adds up in the end but I would suggest that you plant some more. I never heard about ever-bearing raspberries. That is so cool... Jams and jellies all sound so nice. It makes me salivate.

    Hugs,
    JB

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  5. Fresh raspberries how fun! Yeah for your determination to keep the bushes alive.

    Good Luck with the dishwasher shopping. I hope your flooding incident wasn't to big of a mess. Not a good way to start the day.

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  6. This is amazing! I would love to grow raspberries like that sometime. All your hard work is paying off... and now you have berries and jam forever!

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  7. Wow that is totally amazing you got that many raspberry bushes! I am so glad you finally got so many. Those berries are wonderful.

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  8. OMG - I love raspberries and your plant is gorgeous. Our old neighbor used to have raspberry bushes and would always share their harvest. Then they sold the house and the new people dug them out. I could have cried!

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  9. How wonderful! I'm so glad that your raspberry bushes not only survived, but have thrived! Just three plants, huh?! Amazing!!

    Happy canning, and happy dishwasher shopping. Hope you find a new one that will load itself too ****giggle***.
    Wouldn't that be nice?!

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  10. Those raspberries are BEAUTIFUL! Soft fruits are the one thing we never grew. :-(

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  11. Yummy! Glad you've got a good harvest from them.

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