Careful Where you Plant Raspberries!
Our farm at Blackberry Blossom was started by Ed's dad in 1980. He took planting raspberries seriously and planted a large patch of black raspberries. Unfortunately, he planted them next to the blackberries, which is a big no-no. We tried moving them in 1999 to another field but most of those original black raspberries have had to be dug and burned because of disease.
These days, learning from trial & error, we're very careful where we plan and plant our fruits and vegetables, and constantly monitor them for signs of disease or nutritional needs in the soil. As our rocky clay-laden soil becomes healthier through yearly amending with organic material we see less and less problems.
Ed, with the help of his German Shepherds, plowing up a new row for planting berries.
Ed explains his planting madness...
Starting in Spring 2007, we've planted a 10 row patch of red and yellow raspberries each of the last 2 years. We planted several different varieties of red raspberries to experiment with flavor, ripening time and growing success for our area. All of our plants were purchased from Henry Fields Seed and Nursery and Michigan Bulb Co. We highly recommend these nursery companies. We've had lesser success from other companies we've ordered from but Henry Fields and Michigan Bulb have never disappointed us with products or service.
As I mentioned on our Irrigation page, I lay out each row 50 feet long. The rows are spaced 10 feet apart. I stake out the ends of each row and then plow 3 or 4 furrows down each row. As you can see, the old Simplicity 7116 has plenty of power to do the job.
After plowing each row, I switch to the tiller and with the help of a rock picker (she's the one in the blue pants) I till each row several times until all of the sod is broken up and the rocks are removed. My girls then descend on the new patch and remove all of the grass clumps. These we haul off and use for fill somewhere or compost.
Water for planting raspberries
When the rows are ready to be planted, I install the watering system I mentioned on our Irrigation page. The valve in the rectangular box controls flow to all 10 rows in the patch and valves in the round boxes controls flow to each individual row.
Simple, easy, free... creek water, gravity-fed irrigation.
Unroll the Poly Pipe
It helps to straighten the poly pipe by laying it in the sun for a few hours.
I connect a 50 ft. long 3/4 inch poly pipe down each row and install a threaded cap on the lower end of each one. I remove these caps in the fall to drain the system.
"Everybody up & out! It's time for planting raspberries!"
After installing the watering system, it's time to actually plant. This is a real team effort. I hand dig a trench down the center of each row to provide plenty of room for the plant roots. Daughter #1 places a shovel of compost every two feet in the trench. Daughter #2 mixes this compost into the soil and plants the raspberries which have been soaking in a bucket of water for a couple of hours.
Ed checks the raspberry planting depth
Planting raspberries... Ed, "The Raspberry Whisperer" (Heh, heh...)
I then go back over the row smoothing everything out and checking to make sure the plants are at the right depth.
Punching the holes
After each row is planted, I install the drip emitters in the pipe, one on either side of the plant. I start by punching a hole in the pipe using the Katif Miracle Punch as shown. You can find the emitters, punch, and the emitter inserter equipment at Dripworks . These folks are a nice, friendly company who ship quickly and carry a great line of irrigation supplies.
Emitter Insert Tip!"
I then enlarge the hole using the straight Katif Punch/Inserter. I used to use this punch to make the holes in the pipe, but have found it much easier to make the initial hole with the Miracle Punch and enlarge it with this one.
The other end of this tool is used to insert the emitters. The emitters have holes on opposite sides from which the water flows. I try to place the emitters so these holes are located towards the sides of the pipe instead of inline with it. I do this by placing the emitter in the tool so that the holes are inline with the printed flat on the tool. Then I place my index finger on this flat and keep it towards the side of the pipe as I push the emitter into the hole. You can hear a click as the emitter snaps into place.
I plant 24 plants in each row on 2 ft. centers and install 2 emitters per plant. That's 48 emitters per row which I can usually install in about a half an hour. When the emitters are installed, I turn on the water for that row and water the plants in while we're planting raspberries in the next row.
The finished irrigation pipe with emitters installed. See the raspberry plant in between the two emitters. They're small plants now but in a few years those little sticks will produce big healthy raspberries.
After planting raspberries, mulch well
When all of the rows have been planted, it's off to the mulch pile with pitch forks and snow shovels.
Ground Hog Control!
We have several groundhog that make their home on the edge of our fields in the cool forest banks above the creeks. We rather like these creatures, they're not much bother except for the love of eating our newly leafing out raspberry buds. To control these varmints humanely & still live with their presence, we put windmill pinwheels around the outer perimeter of the fields. The noise and constant movement have given our raspberry plants a chance to outgrow the groundhogs' appetite.
Update Nov., 2009
It has been two years since I first planted the Red Raspberries. I wish I could report they are a great success, but not everything in life works out and the raspberries seem to be in that category. Although I planted them in the middle of a two year drought, I watered them with the irrigation system and they seemed to start out good. I just couldn't seem to keep enough water on them.
Then, every fall just before the first frost, deer have completely de-leafed every plant. I am still wondering if this was really bad for the plants because the leaves would have been gone in a week or so anyway. Loosing their leaves like this without the accompanying freeze may have screwed up the plants metabolism.
After the drought, this year we had record rainfall and a very cool summer. Nothing did very well on the farm this year. I have lost some of the plants but many are still hanging on. I am not going to throw in the towel until I have at least a couple of "normal" years to judge by.
Update Sept., 2012
Several years have shown us that raspberries don't do well on our mountain. It was not a total loss because we have an irrigation system installed on beds where we will try other plants.