July 1, 2018
Raspberries Versus Strawberries
by Farmer Derek

Our two-year-old raspberry plants are yielding nicely and the last-to-ripen strawberry variety has been fruiting concurrently. We treat strawberry plants as annuals, rotating the patch around our multiple u-pick fields. The raspberry patch, conversely, is perennial, and will remain in the same location for 5-10 years. Because these plants are closely related (in the rose family) and can potentially suffer from the same pests and diseases we've been trying to prevent any movement between the two crops. This is why we were picking raspberries with workshifts while keeping strawberries open for u-pick. Now that the strawberries are finished we'll open up raspberries for u-pick. This is the first year both crops yielded simultaneously and is also the first year we've grown this very late strawberry variety. Overall it was a later strawberry harvest than past years. Next season they probably won't overlap. Either way, we're hopeful that you're enjoying the raspberries that are in the pick up room. This is our first foray into the raspberry storage world and we have realized that they don't keep very well in our storage cooler. We sincerely apologize if your 1/2-pint of raspberries had any moldy fruit.