Berry Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pruning | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Raspberries:

• Plant bare-root or potted canes in early spring as soon as soil can be worked.
• Space plants 2-3 feet apart in rows 6-8 feet apart.
• Install trellis system at planting – T-posts with wires work best.
• Choose location carefully – raspberries spread by underground runners!
• Sunlight: Full sun (6-8 hours) for best production, tolerates partial shade.
• Soil Type: Well-drained, slightly acidic soil with pH 5.5-6.5.
• Soil Amendment: Rich in organic matter – add compost generously.

Plant raspberries where you want them forever – they’re hard to remove once established!

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Need 800-1,700 chill hours. Hardy to -20°F. Heat stress above 85°F.

• Winter chill: Required for proper fruiting – Michigan easily provides.
• Spring growth: Begins when soil reaches 40°F.
• Optimal fruiting: 70-75°F days, cool nights.
• Summer stress: Production slows above 85°F.
• Fall-bearing types can fruit until hard freeze!

Michigan’s climate is ideal – our cool springs and moderate summers produce sweet berries!

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical during flowering and fruiting – 1-2 inches weekly.
• Watering: Use drip irrigation or soaker hoses to keep foliage dry.
• Mulch: 3-4 inches of wood chips to suppress weeds and retain moisture.
• Fertilizer: Early spring application of 10-10-10 or compost.
• Weed control: Essential – raspberries don’t compete well with weeds.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Deep color, easy release, slight softness. Harvest every 2-3 days.

• Color: Full color development for variety (red, black, purple, gold).
• Release test: Ripe berries slip off receptacle with gentle pull.
• Firmness: Slight give when gently squeezed.
• Timing: Morning harvest after dew dries is best.
• Peak production lasts 3-4 weeks for summer types.

Unlike blackberries, ripe raspberries leave the white core on the plant!

🧺 Harvesting:

Handle gently – berries are fragile! Use shallow containers. Cool immediately.

• Gentle touch: Roll berries off with thumb and fingers.
• Container depth: No more than 3 layers deep to prevent crushing.
• Don’t overfill: Transfer to additional containers rather than pile high.
• Cool quickly: Get berries into refrigeration within 2 hours.
• Don’t wash: Until ready to use – moisture causes quick spoilage.

✂️ Pruning:

Summer-bearing: fruit on 2-year canes. Fall-bearing: fruit on 1-year canes.

• Summer-bearing: After fruiting, cut fruited canes to ground. Keep 6-8 new canes per foot.
• Fall-bearing option 1: Cut ALL canes to ground in late winter (one fall crop).
• Fall-bearing option 2: Prune like summer types for two smaller crops.
• Thin new growth: Keep strongest canes, remove weak/damaged.
• Height control: Top at 5-6 feet to prevent flopping.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Japanese beetles, cane borers, anthracnose, viruses.

• Japanese beetles: Skeletonize leaves – hand-pick or use row covers.
• Cane borers: Tips wilt – prune below damage and destroy.
• Anthracnose: Purple spots on canes – improve air circulation.
• Spotted wing drosophila: New pest – harvest promptly when ripe.
• Viruses: Buy certified disease-free plants, remove infected plants.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Good with garlic, tansy, yarrow. Avoid nightshades, strawberries.

• Garlic: Deters Japanese beetles and improves plant health.
• Tansy: Repels ants and Japanese beetles.
• Yarrow: Attracts beneficial insects.
• Avoid nightshades: Share verticillium wilt susceptibility.
• Keep away from: Wild brambles which harbor diseases.

🌿 Varieties:

Summer: ‘Latham’, ‘Nova’. Fall: ‘Heritage’, ‘Caroline’. Black: ‘Jewel’.

• ‘Latham’: Summer, very cold hardy, classic red raspberry.
• ‘Nova’: Summer, early season, disease resistant.
• ‘Heritage’: Fall, most popular ever-bearing, reliable.
• ‘Caroline’: Fall, large berries, excellent flavor.
• ‘Jewel’: Black raspberry, early summer, unique flavor.
• ‘Anne’: Fall, golden berries, sweet and mild.

🫙 Preservation:

Freeze unwashed on trays. Make jam. Dehydrate. Fresh only 2-3 days.

• Freezing: Spread unwashed berries on trays, freeze solid, then bag.
• Fresh storage: Refrigerate in shallow containers only 2-3 days.
• Jam/jelly: Classic preservation method – follow tested recipes.
• Dehydrating: Makes intensely flavored “chips.”
• Liqueur: Steep berries in vodka with sugar for cordial.

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Fresh eating, raspberry pie, jam, vinaigrette, chocolate combination.

• Nothing beats fresh raspberries with cream!
• Raspberry pie with lattice crust.
• Raspberry vinaigrette for summer salads.
• Chocolate-raspberry tart – classic combination.
• Raspberry lemonade or iced tea.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Fall-bearing varieties extend season into October.
• Plant different types for June through October harvest.
• Michigan’s humidity requires good air circulation – don’t crowd plants.
• Raised beds improve drainage in heavy clay soils.
• Snow provides natural winter mulch protection.
• Join Michigan Bramble Growers for local advice.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Each raspberry is actually a cluster of 75-85 tiny fruits!
• Raspberries come in red, black, purple, and golden varieties.
• Black raspberries are native to North America.
• Russia is the world’s largest raspberry producer.
• Raspberries have more vitamin C than oranges.
• The leaves make medicinal tea used for centuries.
• Plants can produce for 15-20 years with proper care.
• Scotland’s climate is so perfect for raspberries they’re the national fruit!