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We were lucky enough to be invited to the Ford Ranch to pick raspberries this morning. I was so excited as these raspberries are legendary around here. My husband's Aunt Vicki is a Ford and she got us the invite. We left at 6:30 this morning as they like to pick the berries early and beat the heat. Perfect if you ask me. I dislike the hot part of the day.
Helen and Keith have had this thornless raspberry patch for about 50 years. They told me that it used to be twice as big but it just got to be too much. I was pretty fascinated by what was there and hope I am invited back someday. They pick every day for several weeks and can, freeze and dry their berries for use later on.
They had already been picking for a while when we got there and had picked a couple of gallons by 7:00 am. There were still lots more to pick. They pick a few rows every day and then start the rotation over when the first row is ripe again. There were still so many unripe ones that these folks really have their work cut out for them.
This is just what we brought home. The Fords picked twice this many too. I am going through the canning and preserving guides to see what I want to do with my bounty. I must say picking these beauties from thornless vines made life really nice. Thornless is the way to go.
The berries held together very nicely and are sweet as they could be. I am anxious to figure out what to do with them. I love canning and maybe jam or jelly is the plan for today. I also thought drying them may be an option for making muffins with later. I have yet to dry berries and will be consulting Google before I try it.
How fabulous is that!! I could eat my way through all of those!!
ReplyDeleteI was eating raspberries and ice cream just last night.
Ryan (http://ryans-garden.blogspot.com/)
You lucky girl ! Those berries look so good! And yes, thornless is the way to go. I don't miss the others. Too many bad memories with them from when I was little. :)
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Yum!
ReplyDeleteUh-oh, you're fascinated... is a berry patch in your future??
Heather~~ I could eat my computer screen! In my opinion your photo rivals any flower photo. Just beautiful! I've got everbearings. 'Autumn Bliss' and 'Fall Gold' that start producing in June and continue until frost. I have a daily ritual of stuffing my face. :)
ReplyDeleteThose berries are making my mouth water. We have a small patch we put in last year, and we got a few berries this year. I hope you get to pick again, and I hope you have good harvests if you put in a patch of your own.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great crop. I do freeze rasperries and either make jam or use in pudding or sweeten with a little boiled water and sugar. that way I can use them on a rainy day when I can't be out in the garden.
ReplyDeleteOh, Heather, I hope you get to go back many times. Did you get any growing tips? Variety names? I'd eat raspberry jam and cheesecake with raspberry sauce. . . yum.
ReplyDeleteWHAT A TREAT!!!!
ReplyDeleteYUM! I need to plant raspberries. Hmm, where can I squeeze some in???
ReplyDeleteThat is a great score! I got a bunch of free raspberry plants this spring, but I am not going to get many berries this year. We have a farm out of town that does u-Pick strawberries and raspberries and we will definitely be getting in on that action.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone else said, YUM! Gorgeous berries - I used to freeze mine & use in banana raspberry muffins. Just started a new patch & can't wait for them to mature!!
ReplyDeleteI envy you. Over here we don't get to eat fresh raspberries very often. It's usually the preserved ones and I love raspberry jam and raspberries with ice cream.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteYou are totally lucky! You can't beat fresh raspberries!
Rosey
Raspberries are my FAVORITE!
ReplyDeleteThese look fantastic!! I just emailed my sister-in-law to see if she'll trade extra berries for eggs! I am getting low on jam!
ReplyDelete