Raspberries in the store cost a fortune. They aren’t as good as the ones you can grow at home. It’s June, July or August. You step outside and pick a bowl of raspberries for breakfast. What could be better?

Raspberries like some support like a T-bar trellis or a fence to lean on at their back and very strong string or a wire at their front. Otherwise, they fall over.

Where I live in the Pacific Northwest, you can plant raspberries anytime in the Spring or Summer, but Spring is probably best. If you set your plants a few feet apart, you will be amazed how quickly they fill in. It’s okay to plant some different kinds to see which ones do the best.

My raspberry patch is only four feet wide, but about forty feet long, along a fence. I hammered in some posts to run wire to help hold the vines up, which is necessary once the fruit comes. This patch produces berry, berry much each year, enough to enjoy throughout the season and for making jam that lasts the year.

Raspberries freeze easily and last a long time. We put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer. Once frozen they can go into a container or a zip-lock bag. You can accumulate berries to freeze and make slushies year around. If you are ambitious you can make jam later when convenient and you have enough raspberries. Better not to rinse them before freezing.

In summer, I water the raspberries a lot; otherwise they dry out. Just look at their leaves and their growth and you’ll know when to water.

Raspberries are easy to prune in the fall. I take out the canes that turned white, cutting them at ground level and top the green plants that got too tall, about level with where my support wire is at. Raspberries are one of the most enjoyable and easily grown fruits. If you aren’t growing raspberries yet, why not spend a couple hours getting a spot ready for the very next Spring?