Many gardeners can hardly wait for the red, yellow and black raspberries to finally ripen. How you can tell that you can harvest the fruits and what you should consider when harvesting raspberries.

Harvest time of raspberries depending on the variety

When your raspberries are ripe depends on whether you planted summer raspberries, autumn raspberries or so-called two-timers.

summer raspberries

The main season for summer raspberries lasts from June to July. A few fruits continue to ripen until August.

autumn raspberries

Harvest time for autumn raspberries begins in August. Depending on the variety, you can keep harvesting new fruit until the first frost.

Two timer raspberries

These raspberries bear twice a year. They are harvested for the first time from June, the second harvest season begins in August.

Harvest raspberries carefully

Raspberries are very sensitive and do not tolerate pressure. Therefore, pick the fruit very carefully. Ripe raspberries easily detach from the bush.

Place the raspberries side by side in an air-permeable basket. Avoid layering them on top of each other.

Harvest and consume raspberries immediately

Harvest your raspberry bushes regularly. As soon as new fruits show their strong color, they are ready to be harvested. If they stay on the bush too long, they will soften and begin to rot.

Fresh raspberries only keep for a very short time. Even in the fridge, they become mushy after a day and lose a lot of their flavor. Therefore, eat or process the harvest immediately.

You can do this with raspberries!

Of course, the sweet little fruits taste best fresh from the bush. They also taste delicious in a summer fruit salad or on fruit cakes.

If the harvest is too plentiful, you have to preserve the raspberries. This is best done by:

  • Freeze raw raspberries
  • Cook as a compote
  • Process into jam
  • Dry raspberries

Carefully sort the raspberries for further processing and discard any fruits that have started mold or are infested with maggots.

tips and tricks

Do you love raspberry jelly? Then plant preferably seedless varieties in the garden. You have to pass raspberries with seeds through a sieve to make the jelly. This creates more waste than if you can use the fruit whole.

Category:

Vegetable garden