Raspberry Time

Mid-July is raspberry time in upstate NY. While our raspberry patch is one of my favorite places to work outside, it really suffers from neglect most of the time, but that doesn't seem to affect its production of beautiful berries. Last week our 12-year-old grandson, Tommy, was visiting, and picking berries was one of the things he enjoyed doing.

The best times of the day for berry-picking are mid-morning or late afternoon to early evening. The berries have the most moisture at the beginning and the end of the day, and it's more comfortable working at those times. The two biggest problems we have in the raspberry patch are Japanese beetles and flea beetles. The Japanese beetles eat the leaves, while the flea beetles infest the berries. Raspberries are not usually sprayed for pest control because there is no way to wash the berries and make them safe to eat.

The best way to avoid the flea beetles is to not let the berries become over-ripe. Also keep checking the berries as you pick them. You can shake a beetle out of the berry or just throw the berry away if you see one is inside it. Then when you take the berries into the house, soak them in a pan of water and most of the beetles will swim to the surface. You'll still have to kill them by pinching them or mashing them on the bottom of the sink. I remember the first time I ever picked raspberries. I saved them for my cereal in the morning and, while I was eating my beautiful breakfast, one after another of those little black bugs kept swimming up into the milk and I had to dump the whole thing out. That was my first encounter with flea beetles, and I learned quickly how to avoid a repeat performance! DK