Raspberries Galore!

[Tdog]

Raspberries! I'm sooo jealous. I love 'em, but don't think they will grow here. Our blackberries gave out a few weeks ago, but our blueberries have been providing since late May. I think we have a few more days of decent production. Enough to keep blue on my cereal in the morning as well as freeze a bunch for blueberry muffins throughout the year. SWMBO makes the best bb muffins I've ever had.

 

[Dozernut]

dmccarty & Jinman, your posts brought back an ancient memory. My uncle harry went Blackberry picking and forgot to sprinkle Sulfur in his pants and socks and got a whole colony of the little buggers on him. He got the idea to put Turpentine on them to kill them. Well he got a little carried away with the Turpentine and it ran down his back side into his nether regions. They said you could hear the screams the next county over. It was never dull with "uncle Harry" around.
We used to pick in the neighbors pasture when I was a boy. That experience taught me how to pay attention to the berry picking and the surrounding area. The neighbors had a mean bull who delighted in chasing young boys out of the Blackberry patch. I also learned hurdling as we often did not have time to climb the fence. We would take our Berries to town and sell them for $1.00 a gallon. We would sell two or three gallons then hit the candy store or the Dime Store.

 

[jinman]

We would take our Berries to town and sell them for $1.00 a gallon. We would sell two or three gallons then hit the candy store or the Dime Store.

It sounds like we had similar childhoods.

My mother would put a classified add in our local newspaper, and the phone would ring off the hook. We had berry, blackeye pea, and okra orders for two weeks in just one day. We also sold gallons and gallons of berries for $1 per gallon.

I can also remember that we had two drygoods stores in town that would put print cotton shirts on sale for $1 each. I bought about a dozen of those shirts ,and was so proud of myself for being able to buy my own clothes. We also spent our money on junk food and go-cart rides at the local track. Those were the days. . .

 

[Bird]

It sounds like we had similar childhoods.

Me, too. Never sold any blackberries; we used all of ours. But I went door to door with samples selling big red plums for 50 cents a gallon; took orders one day, picked and delivered the next morning. I had a big okra patch and sold okra to the local grocery stores. The blackeyed pea patch was my sisters' money crop. We all picked up and sold pecans. And I made a little money raising Berkshire hogs.

And I still remember the first time I ever bought a shirt; 3 of them, in fact. I was 15 and going to Dallas for the Stamps Quartet School of Music that summer. Prior to that, I'd been given a few shirts as gifts, but mother made nearly all my shirts.

 

[Creamer]

Old thread but it is worth reviving with the rains this year the wild black raspberries are nice. It has to be one of my favorite flavors. I have picked a little over three gallon this year since they are so nice. My wife is busy making preserves and syrup. I am looking forward to great blackberries this year as well.

 

[cqaigy2]

Old thread but it is worth reviving with the rains this year the wild black raspberries are nice. It has to be one of my favorite flavors. I have picked a little over three gallon this year since they are so nice. My wife is busy making preserves and syrup. I am looking forward to great blackberries this year as well.

Im not sure what black raspberries are. I've had some yellow ones that were pretty good, and of-course red ones too. Maybe the same as black berries here? My wife has made sherbet from the black berries that grow here. It's really good in the heat.

 

[Creamer]

No blackberries will start in 2-3 weeks here. Black raspberries look about like the other raspberries except of course black. They also have a stronger flavor than other raspberries- which is why I like them.

Never had them in sherbet but they are great over vanilla ice cream.

The blackberries should be really great this year as we have had lots of moisture. Blueberries are starting next week - they are looking good too.

 

[RalphVa]

My wife picked what we call "Black caps" which are wild black raspberries here in Virginia and in NJ. She got 4 collanders full of them.

We're now up to near 7 collanders full of wineberries. These are very sweet, sticky berries that come out of what looks like a cuckle burr that opens up. They grow here and in NJ, too, in semi shade.

The everbearing raspberries won't start until the end of July because I cut them to the ground and only get the one crop (from experience, easiest way to prune because the 1st crop with a lot more pruning effort is very light).

We're getting a few domestic, thornless blackberries but not a bumper crop for them. Discovered Arapaho are a better berry than Navaho. Wild blackberries here in Virginia are hardly worth picking, too small. We used to pick 5 gallon buckets full of big, juicey blackberries in the wild in NJ.

Also light crop for blueberries. A friend, though, has gotten lots of them.

Ralph

 

[TRO]

The raspberries are looking good, all in my patch are early fall varieties so still some time before we start picking. We started picking blueberries on Friday, picked 16 quarts. We picked another 20 quarts today and will pick everyday for the next 3 to 4 weeks.

 

[Creamer]

The raspberries are looking good, all in my patch are early fall varieties so still some time before we start picking. We started picking blueberries on Friday, picked 16 quarts. We picked another 20 quarts today and will pick everyday for the next 3 to 4 weeks.

That is a lot of blueberries - what do you do with them?