Well... we knew this time would come... this is what happens when you properly support your raspberry vines and splay them horizontally so they get the most yield (aka.biggest crop, aka. most berries, aka. raspberries as far as the eye can see!). I discussed pruning and training raspberry vines in an earlier post, and now we're reaping the crop. It's official! We're drowning in raspberries! Berries love the Pacific Northwest - we actually have the highest rate of berry production in the world!
Perfect!
For some reason, the berries on the east side of the trellis were at least 1.5 inches long. I didn't do anything special to them, so we're trying to figure out why they are so much bigger than the others. This wasn't the case last year...
The ones that are darker purple with a slight "dusty" look to them are perfectly ripe. They should almost fall off in your hand without much pulling. Resist the urge to pull harder!
Perfectly ripe and falling from the hull. This berry fell off a few seconds after I took this picture.
Raspberries as far as the eye can see - as long as you move your eye low and look upward - raspberries like to hide under leaves and some of the best ones can be found in the shaded inner part of the stand.
Today we picked at least 7 pints of berries, with more to go and 8 jars of jam already put up two weeks ago. Whew! I'm freezing them, pureeing them, and canning them as fast as my two hands can work! These will be spectacular eating come winter...a reminder of the sunny Seattle days of June/July.
Washed and ready for making jam
Jars of freshly canned raspberry jam ready for gifts and storage
Pulping the raspberries to separate the juice from the seeds. Add a little sugar and fresh lemon juice and you have fresh raspberry coulis.
Raspberry coulis ready for freezing
As for the rest...bagged and ready for freezing with some fresh blueberries from our garden
It's amazing how many berries can be produced by just a 4 x 8 foot area!
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