How to Save Money and Grow Healthy, Organic Raspberries and

How to Save Money and Grow Healthy, Organic Raspberries and Blackberries

There’s nothing that tastes quite as much like summer as a pint of organic raspberry or blackberry fruits. Eaten raw or saved as preserves, raspberries and blackberries are also full of plenty of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that our bodies need to operate at peak efficiency. A common ingredient in bio-fruit supplements, these fruits have been shown to promote good health in just about the tastiest way possible.

Sadly, as the price of petroleum has increased markedly throughout the ‘aughts, the cost of these fruits has also increased to the point where they’re difficult for many households to afford. For this reason and the simple hedonistic pleasure of harvesting your own succulent berries from the yard, many people are choosing to grow their own yellow, black, purple and red raspberries.

Thankfully, organic raspberry and blackberry plants are very simple to grow once established. Being a perennial crop, these bramble fruits are a very good addition to any ecological agriculture plan. While they are most often purchased as crowns from a nursery, they are also very easy to propagate from either roots or shoot tips. A well-maintained organic raspberry patch will continue to bear for many years with careful pruning to remove old, unproductive canes.

There are two main types of raspberries: biennial-bearing types that always set fruit on the previous year’s canes (floricanes) and ever bearing types that set fruit on current year canes (primocanes). The latter is most often tipped during the season and used as a fall-crop, with the others best suited for mid-summer production.

Raspberries are the heartiest of all the cane berries, though there are now varieties of blackberries that are hearty to USDA zone 5. The use of a trellis is very important to organic raspberry production, as they allow the fruit to be harvested much easier and cut down on fungal and pest problems.

They are not particularly heavy feeders, but should be given a side-dressing of an organic fertilizer such as bone meal and ash each spring to support fruit production. While they can fall prey to powdery mildew and other fungal pathogens, these problems can be kept at bay with plenty of air circulation and water conservation techniques such as drip irrigation, allowing the leaves to be kept dry.

Most bramble berries are partially shade-tolerant, though they do best in an area that gets at least 4 hours of full sunlight per day, with six or more hours of filtered sun also being suitable. They are especially good when paired with dwarfed tree-fruits such as cherries, plums and apples. Avoid planting near walnuts or wild berries, as the former contains allelopathic chemicals that inhibit growth and the latter can harbor diseases and pests.

Controlling weeds and making sure that the plants are spaced correctly is the key to keeping pests and diseases down. Keeping the roots cool is also very important, so an application of a thick, organic mulch is very useful in the summer. A second application of compost each winter is also very useful for supplying plenty of water-conserving organic matter.

One of the biggest disease pests of organic raspberry and blackberry plantings is verticillium wilt. To avoid this problem, be sure to keep your canes well away from any members of the nightshade family such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and petunia. There should be at least three years of other crops planted in such a location to avoid problems.

Giving new plants a good start is the key to getting a good organic raspberry or blackberry patch going. Give them plenty of space, with a bit more allotted to trailing types (and this includes most blackberries). A typical planting of raspberries will allow about 5 canes per foot (about 15 per linear meter).

Pruning is very important to keeping your organic raspberry or blackberry thicket in good shape. This is typically done in late winter, when the floricanes are still dormant. Cut out any old canes and tip back blackberries to a uniform 10 feet (3m) per cane, then tie them back up to the trellis. These most often are wires that are about 5 feet (1.5m) from the ground, with the canes wrapped around the top wire. Dip pruners in a mild bleach solution between cuts to stop the spread of disease, and be sure to burn the prunings to halt the spread of virus.