Surely you can hardly wait until the first raspberries are ripe and you can harvest them. How to recognize fruit that is ready to be harvested and what you should bear in mind when picking it.

Harvest time of raspberries

The three main types of raspberries ripen at different times:

  • Summer raspberries - June to July
  • Autumn raspberries - August until the first frost
  • Two-Timer - first harvest from June, second harvest from August

How do you recognize ripe raspberries?

Raspberries are really ripe when the pearls of the fruit appear to be plump. Depending on the variety, their color is bright red, black or yellow.

Ripe raspberries can be detached from the inflorescence with just a light touch. If they are still stuck, it is better to wait a little before harvesting.

The best time of day to pick raspberries

If you want to eat raspberries raw right away, pick them on a warm day when the sun is shining. Then they are very cute.

Pick raspberries that are to be frozen early in the morning. Choose a day when it doesn't rain so the fruit stays nice and dry.

Fruits from which you plan to cook compote or jam are allowed to be collected even in rainy weather. In this case, don't worry if the raspberries are a little wet.

How to pick correctly!

Raspberries are picked individually from the bush. With one hand, gently bend the canes aside so you can pluck the fruit with the other hand. Do not apply pressure to prevent the raspberries from softening.

Carefully place the harvested fruit in a basket. Don't stack too many raspberries on top of each other.

Sort out maggot, rotten and moldy fruit right away. Moldy raspberries infect the healthy fruit and make it rot faster.

Protect hands from injuries and discolouration

If you have a lot of raspberry bushes to harvest, wear gloves and long-sleeved clothing.

Many raspberry varieties have spikes that cause nasty scratches on the skin. Wear protective clothing to avoid being bitten by insects such as bees or wasps. Also, the hands do not turn red.

Tips for bountiful harvests

Raspberries cannot be stored for long. If possible, only harvest as much fruit as you can consume or process on the same day.

If the harvest is so plentiful that you pick far more raspberries than you need, simply freeze the fruit.

You can thaw the frozen raspberries if you have more time and then easily use them to make jam or compote.

tips and tricks

If, after harvesting summer raspberries, you do not have time to immediately cut the shoots, mark them with a colored ribbon. You can then see later exactly which rods are biennials and should definitely be trimmed.

Category:

Vegetable garden