How to Grow & Use Raspberries

Growing berries is a rich and rewarding thing to do for yourself! They come back every year, require little care, and provide you with fresh fruit that you can preserve and use all year long. We all know how expensive berries can be at the store, and you will save a ton of money by growing your own. Today’s post is all about how to grow and use raspberries!

How To Grow Raspberries

Raspberries are a plant that you actually can sneak into a small space–you’ll just need to keep an eye on them and make sure to remove extra canes that start to sprout up. Ours are tucked between the back of our garage and our back fence, with a tiny little trail of grass between—just the right amount of space to stand barefoot in in the summer and pick berries.

Raspberries prefer full sun, but can definitely handle a little shade, too. They are not too fussy about soil, either, and once established will grow prolifically. In fact, you’ll see canes starting to sprout up all over, and if you don’t have enough room, you may need to even take some of those shoots out!

While raspberries are self fertile, meaning you only need to plant one variety to have fruit, I like to plant a few different varieties to expand my growing season. For example, you can plant one variety that fruits early in the season, one mid season, and one late. This way you can be eating fresh berries for much longer throughout the summer!

The cheapest way to buy raspberries, is bareroot in the very early spring or late winter. They are also sold in nurseries, potted in soil, throughout the year. Plant them in as much sun as you can, but like I said, they can also tolerate some shade, too, and they are pretty adaptable.

While you may get a few berries year one, depending on the variety, it is best to let them grow for a while, and not do much pruning. This will ensure healthier plants and and a more continuous harvest later. Once your plants are established and thriving, the harvesting can begin!

Harvesting Raspberry Plants

Raspberries are cool because you can use them for two different purposes: tea and berries. After your plants are established, you can start harvesting their leaves for tea. Raspberry Leaf Tea has tons of health benefits, especially for women, and being able to grow and harvest your own is empowering. I like to enjoy a nice warm mug of it in the evenings year round. For more information about making Raspberry Leaf, click here.

Of course, the main reason most of us grow raspberries is for the berries! There is nothing quite like picking ripe raspberries out in the sunshine in your own backyard. Pick the berries when they are bright magenta and sweet. In the Pacific Northwest, ours tend to ripen towards the end of June. If you plant many different varieties, you can extend the harvest into the other summer months, as well. 

My favorite way to enjoy raspberries is to snack on them, fresh off the canes. When they start to really ripen, and it’s time for a bigger harvest, I collect them in baskets. Raspberries are very delicate, and it’s best to not rinse them at all until right before you are ready to use them. 

How To Use Raspberries

There are tons of ways to use up your mountains of raspberries after harvest season. I use my raspberries mostly for jam, baking, smoothies, pancakes, sauces, salad toppers, and salad dressing. 

How To Preserve Raspberries

While you can definitely dehydrate or freeze dry raspberries, I prefer freezing them, since they are more versatile and can be used in many more different ways throughout the year in this form. Another great way to preserve them is to make raspberry jam–this is a favorite of my mom’s–and I love to give her jars of beautiful red raspberry jam for the holidays. 

To freeze raspberries, lay them out flat on a sheet pan right after picking, and put the pan in the freezer. Let them freeze overnight–or until you have a chance to get back to them. After they are frozen, you can put them in gallon freezer bags or vacuum sealed freezer bags. Freezing them on the pan first will keep them from sticking together in their long term freezer storage. 

I stack the freezer bags in my freezer and pull them out throughout the year to use for whatever our hearts desire on that particular day. It is something special to have the bursting flavor of summer splash into your winter kitchen while you enjoy a bright fresh raspberry from your freezer. 

I hope you have a little raspberry space in your world and are enjoying some already. And if you don’t, I hope you get to experience it someday soon! Happy gardening to you all! What are your favorite ways to enjoy raspberries?

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