Edibles - Berries and Vines

Raspberries

For new raspberry plantings a raised bed 8 to 10 inches high and 18 to 36 inches wide should be formed and the new raspberry starts planted into it 1 inch below the soil line.Raspberry roots tend to travel parallel to the ground and will rarely dive under objects. When planing your raspberry bed, it is best to plan your rows to run in a north to south direction. This insures that one row will not shade out the other. This of course is not mandatory. Spacing of your raspberries is recommend at 18 inches between the plants and 5 to 6 feet between the rows.

Existing raspberries in the garden will benefit from being "hilled up" by adding a depth of good quality well drained soil, or even quality potting soil, on top of the row to a depth of not more than 8 inches. This should be done in late February an into March before the new spring growth emerges from the crowns. The new growth will force through the topsoil and root into it. Cane growth is stimulated and possible root rot is minimized. Raspberries are susceptible to root rot, and the best way to prevent root rot it is to pile soil on top of the row and AVOID watering it in. Research has shown that adding lime helps prevent root rot.

Pruning and Training:
Often only the shoots of suckers that start close to the original plant are allowed to grow, thus the canes are kept grouped together in the so-called hill. However, the home gardener may wish to let the hills grow together, thereby conserving space in the garden. Unwanted suckers arising too far from the mother plant may be grubbed out as they appear. After the first year when the raspberries are dormant, thin out the weaker or damaged canes leaving yourself 4 to 6 strong canes per hill.

One-crop or spring crop raspberries fruit on two year old wood. After harvest, the two year old fruiting wood begins to die and can be removed. The remaining one year old canes for the next summers crop can be cut back to head height.

Two-crop or everbearing raspberries, as they are known in the trade, are handled much the same except that they fruit in the fall on one year old canes. The fruit will appear on the top foot or so of the cane, and it is a common practice to remove the portion of the cane that fruited after harvest, leaving the rest of the cane to produce next summer’s crop. The everbearing raspberry thus produces a summer crop on two year old wood and a fall crop on one year old wood. As with the one-crop raspberries, the two year old canes die and are removed after the harvest or during the following winter.

Red raspberries can be supported either with tall stakes or ideally with a two wire trellis. The wires of the trellis are usually placed about one foot below the height at which the canes have been pruned. The wires are placed on each side of the post with large staples or nails. Sometimes cross pieces are nailed to the posts so that the two wires are 12 to 15 inches apart. A second set of wires may sometimes be placed a few feet below the top wires. The canes can be tied to the top set of wires. Certain varieties may need no support at all! The everbearing raspberries fall into this category.

RED RASPBERRY - SPRING CROP VARIETIES

Willamette:
Originated in Oregon and is extensively grown in the Pacific Northwest. An extremely large berry, nearly round, dark red, very firm, and of excellent quality. Lower sugar content, rich, and slightly tart good flavor. Excellent quality for fresh eating, freezing, and canning. Holds color and shape well. The bush is vigorous, very productive, and suckers freely. Requires well drained soils and mild winters. Disease resistant. Ripens early. Willamette is one of the most popular commercial varieties in Oregon, Washington, and California. Zone 5-10.

Tulameen:
Nootka parentage. Very large, red fruit makes it one of the largest of all the reds. Well suited to both processing and fresh market. High yields. Long harvest season (approximately 50 days). Ripens in July. Introduced in 1990. Zone 4-7.

RED RASPBERRY - EVERBEARING VARIETIES

Amity:
Developed at the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station in Corvallis. Large, firm, dark red berries with classic raspberry flavor and superior quality. Excellent for fesh market. Amity is good for shipping, freezing, and canning. Compared to Heritage; Amity is more resistant to Root Rot and can take somewhat heavier soils. Amity is also aphid resistant. Amity involves two crops. One on the first year growth in the Fall (beginning in late August), and again the following June on the 2 year old wood. The Fall crop will tend to be heavier if the canes are mowed, as the plant does not use any energy to ripen the Spring crop. Amity is a week or so earlier than Heritage but does not bear quite as heavily. Amity does not pick as well as Heritage because the berry sticks to the plug until quite ripe. We recommend Amity for the home gardener due to its excellent flavor.

Autumn Bliss:
An early Autumn fruiting raspberry. Large, oval-conical, medium to dark red berry. Fairly easy to plug. This berry has a pleasant mild flavor. Autumn Bliss ripens earlier than Heritage, overlapping in mid-August with the latest summer cropping varieties and continuing into October. Spiny canes are fairly erect and may be grown with little or no support. Moderate cane density. High yields. Autumn Bliss bridges the gap between late Summer and Fall varieties. This gives home gardeners, fruit stand operations, and fresh market producers the opportunity of continuous cropping throughout late Summer and early Fall. Zone 3-9.

Fall Gold:
Large, conical, non-crumbling, very sweet, somewhat soft, golden berries. Excellent for processing and fresh eating. Canes are vigorous, productive, and adaptable to a wide variety of soils. Not recommended for extreme northern areas. First crop ripens in July. Second crop from late August until frost. Zones 4 to 8. Hardy to -25 degrees F.

Black Cap Raspberries

Cultural Requirements:
Blackcaps prefer a loose textured, well drained soil. The limiting factor is, as with red raspberries, a high water table for long periods of time, especially during the winter months. Keeping this in mind, blackcaps thrive on most soil types. The blackcap raspberries grown commercially are native to the eastern and central states, making the blackcap cold hardy in most areas of the U.S.

Fertility:
Blackcaps prefer a naturally fertile soil. Soils high in organic matter always fall into this class. If commercial fertilizers are used, one should apply a well balanced blend, such as 5-10-5, in early spring. One half cup per plant is usually ample. The plants should be watered moderately during the growing season.

Planting Instructions:
One year old tip plants should be planted in March or April. Two year old transplants may be planted earlier, one inch deeper than the plant grew in the nursery. Any white sprouts arising from the crown should be covered with soil to prevent burning by the sun. The older stems or tops on transplants may be cut back several inches. Blackcaps should be spaced 3-4 feet in the row and 6-8 feet between rows.

Pruning and Training:
When one year old canes arising in the spring reach a height of 18-24 inches, they should be pinched off back 3 or 4 inches. This practice forces out strong fruiting laterals for next year's berry crop. No more attention is paid to the canes after pinching until time for pruning in late winter. During winter, the old two year old wood that fruited the previous summer is removed, and the laterals or branches that arose after summer pinching of the one year old canes may be shortened to about 12 inches. Of course, any weak canes may also be removed at this time. The properly pruned plant has a globe shape, Hedge appearance with the fruit occurring on the outside surface of the bush. Staking may be beneficial for the first crop of a new planting, but is not needed after that.

BLACK CAP RASPBERRY VARIETIES

Royalty:
(Purple Raspberry) Developed at the Geneva Station in New York and introduced in 1982. Large, firm, round, very sweet purple berries. Royalty has a dual picking time. Full red stage with a real red raspberry flavor, or a later purple stage with a stronger, sweet purple raspberry flavor. High quality fruit that is good for fresh eating. The tartness of Royalty also make it good jams, jellies, and freezing. Vigorous, productive canes with only an occasional strong sucker. Royalty has multiple insect resistance, including immunity to the large Raspberry Aphid which transmit Mosaic Virus. Also resistant of raspberry fruit worms. Hardy is zone 4-8. Ecxellent variety for Willamette Valley.