There are a few secrets on how to grow raspberries the best easy way that you probably don’t know about. Is there even a thing as too many raspberries? NO! Learn how to grow raspberries the easy way for free!
We feast on raspberries ALL year-round on our Idaho Homestead. Eating raspberries in the winter is like a mouth full of warm summer sunshine in the middle of a freezing blizzard. It just makes you happy! But raspberries don’t just make your tummy feel good… They are super good for you, so grow more raspberries!
Grow more raspberries this year by following these 4 simple steps! How to plant, fertilize, water, weed and harvest for MORE RASPBERRIES! – Guaranteed!
Grow More Raspberries For Free With Starts
Want more raspberries? Of course, you do… Who doesn’t? We all love raspberries and you can grow more raspberries for free by babysitting your starts! Raspberries are spread by their roots, sending up new starts in the spring and throughout the season.
Do not spray weeds in your raspberry patch, because you’ll get the starts too. Pull weeds in raspberry patches instead. Then transplant all those wonderful raspberry starts into rows to quickly grow your raspberry patch and production.
It’s amazing how big your raspberry patch can get without spending money on expensive raspberry starts!
If you want to put in a new raspberry patch, find someone who has one and get starts from them! This will save you so much money because raspberry starts are more than $8 each! These raspberry starts on amazon are beautiful… but you’ll pay for them!
Fertilize For More Raspberries!
Fertilize your raspberries bushes to help them produce more raspberries for free! You can use free fertilizer like homemade compost, composted cow manure, or fully composted chicken manure.
Make sure to mix your fertilizer well with soil so it doesn’t get too hot on your plants. If you are using cow manure use about 75 pounds to every 100 feet of raspberries.
If you are planting raspberries for the first time, till your fertilizer deep into the soil before planting your raspberry starts.
Weeding To Grow More Raspberries
You wouldn’t think that weeding is that important for berry production, but it is. Weeds eat up all the nutrients that your raspberry plants need and can choke them out.
Some weeds are worse than others, but they should all be removed from your raspberry patch on a regular basis.
One of the worst weeds we have in Idaho is morning glory… Doesn’t sound like a weed, does it? However, morning glory spreads by the roots too, and climbs raspberry canes taking their sunshine. This weed, and others, can kill off a raspberry patch if not controlled.
Don’t mistake raspberry starts as weeds! Raspberries are spread by the roots; so they send up new shoots called raspberry starts. These baby raspberry canes will grow and produce raspberries next year, so don’t pull them out or spray them! Instead, transfer new raspberry starts into your rows to grow your patch!
Watering For More Raspberries!
One of the most important steps to growing more raspberries is to water them right! Raspberry plants can get diseased if you sprinkler them with water, so make sure you water them at ground level. Drip systems are the best and easiest way to keep your raspberries moist at ground level.
Before raspberry canes start producing fruit, just make sure the ground isn’t dry. Water just enough for them to continue producing starts and grow well… BUT AFTER raspberry canes start producing flowers, you need to make sure they have more water! After all, that’s how raspberries get their juice!
When raspberries are produced, they need plenty of water to continue growing large juicy berries! Don’t flood your raspberry patch, or let water sit on the ground around them… That can cause disease. However, make sure the soil stays good and moist. This will vary according to the weather and climate where you are.
How To Harvest For More Raspberries!
You may think that at this point you should just have more berries, and you well may… However, no matter which raspberry variety you have, this is when the work begins to ensure MORE RASPBERRIES!
Raspberries must be harvested regularly and before they get too ripe to continue producing MORE raspberries! If you slack at this point you will not get as many raspberries. That’s because raspberries will stop putting energy into growing new berries if old raspberries are rotting or drying up on the cane.
However, if you pick your ripe raspberries every day, raspberry canes will be able to continue to produce new berries longer! We like to pick raspberries every morning during their season. If we miss just one day, the canes produce less.
What Will You Do With All Those Raspberries?
There are so many ways to use, or sell, your raspberries! My favorite way to preserve raspberries is to freeze them and make raspberry freezer jam. Our family loves to throw frozen raspberries into our bowl of oatmeal to cool it down, and make smoothies. But the raspberry jam is the star of the show at breakfast! We love to smother pancakes, waffles, and biscuits in raspberry freezer jam!
We also love making raspberry lemon-aid, and raspberry-filled jellos on hot summer days!
However, you use them, ENJOY more raspberries this year!
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