Where do raspberries live?

[kwormann]

I am so tired of paying 4.00 for a tiny container of them....Ive been told its because they dont grow here are shipped here and travel costs are so high, so my question is, where do they grow???

[Leonard]

What a great question! I too am tired of the ridiculous price of raspberries. Most of the time, half the container of berries are overripe and mushy! Maybe someone can shed some light on this!

[sneezles]

The raspberries in the produce section come from the Northwest or the Northeast and even Chile.
You can grow your own and they can be trained to grow along wires and as a hedge. The red raspberry is hardy to zone 4.

[kwormann]

Sneezles.....you grow them here? The produce guy at Randalls said we only grow blueberries here...I assumed it was too hot here after that...alas, Ill have to live only eating them once in awhile as I live in a townhouse and have no yard to grow things.....

[Mamasue]

The price of raspberries are high here in Massachusetts even in season. The price is probably so high because they are very perishable. My mother has a couple of raspberry bushes and picks them all summer. She will prepare them and store in canning jars until she has enough to make a small batch of raspberry jam.

[kwormann]

ohhhhhh Sue, Im going to come live with you. Raspberries are from God! I slurged for our dinner tonite (ya'know, bread, cheese, wine)...just SCREAMING for raspberries! I believe there are about 20 berries in that 4.00 box http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/mad.gif

[Mamasue]

Kim....you would have to live with Anne (mother) and that would be a challenge! LOL http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif Anyway, raspberry bushes are easy to grow and I don't see why you couldn't grow one in a large pot on your balcony....hoping you have a balcony. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[Beth]

I know they grow in northern CA and north along the Pacific coast 'cuz that's where I got spoiled. My Dad grew up in Illinois with them up in that area (maybe Michigan). They grow in cooler weather.

We planted raspberries in our yard in CA the spring before we moved. I'd love to know if they started producing the next year. I have seen some plants for sale here, but really don't know if there are any varieties that will take our heat.

[BosunsWife]

They definately grow in the PacNW. I picked the suckers when I was a kid growing up in the Skagit Valley. Highly perishable fruit. When its hot, they mash down and juice up when you are picking. I think the majority of the ones that are picked in the fields are used for frozen or jam. I think fresh market are picked just for that purpose and that is probably why they are so expensive. Mmmmm, they were my favorite thing to pick in the summertime. Definately better than strawberries since at least raspberries could be picked standing up!

[RobinC]

Raspberries are my FAVORITE fruit. I love to gobble 'em up! Luckily I live in the beautiful, and raspberry filled Pacific Northwest (Portland, OR). Every summer my mom and I go out and pick pounds and pounds of fresh fruit. We get peaches for her, blueberries for the both of us, and lots of raspberries for me. At the u-pick places, we pay about 60 cents a pounds for the lucious little red gifts from heaven. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

[HARRYET]

I grew up in the northeast (MA) and had raspberry bushes growing at the end of my mothers street, as a kid we would pick the berries and eat, throw the berries at each other, mash the berries and throw them, you name it we did it, now 30 years later if only I had known that i'd pay $4.00 for a tiny container, I never would of neglected those little raspberries.

Now living in the desert SW (AZ) we don't ever get to pick them, but we did have the opportunity last summer while visiting my SIL in VT to go raspberry and blueberry picking, what memories, and my kids got to eat the raspberries right from the bushes and experience some of what I experienced as a child.

Ann

[sneezles]

While all those folks in the NW can and do grow raspberries! Rumor has it that we can in fact grow them here in the GREAT STATE of TEXAS. Mind you I have not done this but fully intend to do so...

I can only hope to be successful but will share my success or failure with y'all, knowing full well that you believe in my effort! (remember now, that in that dog survey I am a Pug, one who attracks those looking for a good time (not exactly those words but the sentiment is there)! The Life of the Party and surely one who can grow raspberries!!!!!!!

[Grace]

I live in Chicago and have them in my backyard. Five years ago, I planted 1 "stalk". Raspberries are like weeds and take over the whole area, and really require no care except for staking/trellising. The raspberry patch is now HUGE (just from that one original stalk). I bought an everbearing variety, so I get berries in June and again in September - tons of them, and it's fun to go out and pick some for my cereal in the morning. They don't even need weeding or fertilizing or anything. I made the mistake one year of cutting them all down to the ground in the fall, the way I saw Martha Stewart do it on one of her shows, but she has a different variety that only produces one time a year, and that year I had to wait for the stalks to grow again, which took the whole season, and I only got raspberries in September that year, and not as many. Now I don't cut anything in the fall, and in the spring, all those stalks that appeared dead, spring to life and start making berries right away. I'll probably be able to start picking in 2 weeks!!

[Jewel]

Grace, my morning bowl of Shredded Wheat is looking mighty naked...can I come live with you? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

I've never tried growing them, even though I'm in the Pacific NW. I love the darn things, but I'm 'soil challenged' and can't seem to grow much except the occasional houseplant and weeds in my yard. Those things thrive even with very little attention from me!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

I do have one of those pesky blackberry vines in my side yard that took over the entire RV parking area. Thank Heaven we have no RV. We cut the thing back as much as possible, but after getting sick and tired of fighting with the darn thing and taking the abuse of the Alfred Hitchcock-type birds that were giving us dirty looks every time we tried to kill their little 'buffet', we decided to live with it, and make use of it. Nothing like fresh blackberries on cereal or underneath the oatmeal/cinnamon/butter crunchies of a cobbler, or tossed into my Juiceman Juicer along with grapes and apples for a tasty afternoon snack! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Now if only we'd find a wayward raspberry vine in the yard somewhere...

[This message has been edited by Jewel (edited 05-27-2001).]

[JulesC]

Sneezles, let me know what variety you plant since I live right above you in the windy state of Oklahoma! I would love to plant some. I have strawberries but some typ of bug keeps munching on them!!!

[Beth]

I was reminded by this thread that we gave my dad a raspberry plant last year for his birthday (he loves them too and said all he wanted for his birthday was trees or bushes for their back lot). They live about 4 miles from us. I don't know what variety it was since it only said raspberry on the tag. I'll have to check and see if it survived the hot, dry summer we had.

[sneezles]

Jules,
This is the website I found for ordering plants. Haven't sone so yet but will look into it this week.
http://www.cdr3.com/berry/be01003.htm

[Cathy]

I've been growing them for years here in Northern Idaho. They take a lot of water once they set berries and you really need to stake them or put a something around them to keep them upright. They also like a good bit of manure in the Spring. There's a little maintenance in the fall by cutting out the old vines, (they produce on last years growth). Other than that, they are fairly easy to grow. Blackberries do well here too.