Backyard Raspberries are the Best!

For about the last week or so, I have been lucky enough to pick a handful a raspberries almost every day from my backyard. The berries couldn't be more delicious! Most days, I end up eating most of the berries before I even get them back to the house! 

I'm loving every berry I've grown but was hoping for a lot more this summer. I think I may have to expand my raspberry patch! Below is what I picked on the  morning of July 20, 2015. What's even cooler is the third picture below, which is a photograph of the new raspberry flowers blooming! These flowers are on the new canes that have started to grow this year. They'll produce a small crop this fall and then a larger crop next spring. Besides the obvious benefits of having the berries in the fall as well, I'm happy to see the flowers because it means my plants are doing well! 

Part of me would love to start my own berry farm one day, or at leas have enough land to grow a year supply of berries! That would be delicious! 

A handful of raspberries, out in my garden. 

Delicious, ripe red heritage raspberries ready to be picked. 

First year raspberry canes flowering for fall crop. 

Raspberries and New Fall Buds!

My heritage red raspberries are finally starting to ripen! I'm getting a couple of berries every morning. However, they don't make it inside to the kitchen! I tend to eat them first!  

I've also had a few berries eaten by birds, a problem I haven't had with my blackberries. 

What caught my attention this morning was the beautiful red berries but also the new buds on first year canes! Raspberries will usually produce a small crop of fruit in the fall on first year canes. However, I'm surprise the buds have developed so wary, especially since I'm still harvesting the spring crop. So cool! 

Fruit Canes Already Growing for Next Year!

My raspberry and blackberry plants are looking great! The taller canes that will bear fruit this summer look very healthy and have already begun to sprout numerous leaves. (I can't wait for the delicious fruit!) 

Another sign pointing to my plants being healthy is the new canes growing up from the soil! 

Above is new heritage raspberry canes. They're only two inches high but they'll grow all summer and even produce a small crop of berries in the fall. Then next spring they will produce a much larger crop of berries before I cut them down.  

Above is a new Apache blackberry cane sprouting up. This cane will grow all summer and then produce blackberries next spring and summer. 

So far, growing raspberries and blackberries have been pretty easy! I wish I had more room in my yard to

Let them spread more!