Raspberry Crop Report (Blog)
click here for a description and picture of the varieties we have grown
Last updated July 5, 2008
July 5, 2008: Today was our last picking day for early raspberries.
June 27, 2008: We have had some excellent raspberry picking as customer flow has lightened up over these last few days. While Prelude is fading, Nova is just beginning to come on strong and should last into the first week of July.
June 18, 2008: Due to heavy customer traffic, the Prelude has been over picked these last few days and will need to be given a longer interval between picking. We have begun picking Canby and picking was scattered but berry size was excellent. The Reveille are disappointing this season -- substantial delayed cane winter kill is evident now and berry size is smaller than normal. Unfortunately , roughly 1/4 of our raspberry patch is Reveille so this will have a big impact on berry availability these next two weeks. Nova is still not totally ripe but shows excellent color.
June 12, 2008: The two rows of Prelude had some excellent picking today. Unfortunately, the Reveille, Nova, and Canby are still not totally ripe so picking remains limited to early in the morning. Nova and Canby picking should start early next week.
June 8, 2008: Customers have been picking small quantities of scattered early ripening Prelude for the last few days. Reveille, Nova, and Canby are still not ripe, however.
May 31, 2008: The Prelude and Nova raspberries are continuing to look excellent. I saw my first ripe Prelude raspberry today which means that the season should start during the first week of June -- right on schedule and unlike the strawberry crop which is 12 days behind normal. Nova is still in full bloom which means we should have a good supply of raspberries up until at least July 1.
May 14, 2008: All raspberry varieties are now in bloom. The three rows of Reveille do not look as vigorous as I would like to see and new cane growth for 2009 looks weak. Evidently, the severe raspberry leaf spot problems observed during summer 2007 on Reveille are having a big impact on 2008 growth. Prelude and Nova both look normal, however.
May 4, 2008: We saw the first open Prelude blossoms.
April 29, 2008: No blossoms have opened yet on the Prelude so the raspberry season will probably not start as early as I had expected.
April 19, 2008: Blossom clusters(unopened) are evident now in the Prelude -- This could be one of our earliest harvest season ever for summer red raspberries ! The new Prelude and Nova look excellent but some modest winter injury is evident on the two remaining rows of Canby.
April 12, 2008: The new Prelude planting is almost completely leafed out but other varieties continue to lag behind normal due to the cooler weather.
March 27, 2008: The Prelude and Anne varieties are starting to leaf out and break dormancy. Canes in both rows of Anne seem small and lack vigor -- they will probably need to be eliminated.
September 5, 2007: We have opened the Raspberry field for fall picking. The new Prelude and Nova rows look pretty good but are coming in slower than expected. The three rows of older Nova that were great picking in June 2007 and September 2006 are not looking as good -- berry size is very small.
August 4, 2007: The two new row of newly planted Prelude and three rows of Nova are starting to produce a fair number of blooms and buds. It looks as if we should have a modest "fall" crop of red raspberries from about late August to the end of September.
July 29, 2007: The primocane fruiting yellow raspberries are starting to ripen up -- unfortunately, the extremely hot weather will "cook" each berry before it is ever picked. I had hoped that pruning out the fruiting canes from last year would delay ripening but the "fall" fruiting Anne seemed determined to bloom at its normal time. There will probably not be much of a yellow raspberry crop in 2007!
July 27, 2007: Severe raspberry leaf spot on the Reveille & Anne forced an unusual fungicide application for these two varieties; this fungus is normally only a problem in the Canby.
June 23, 2007: Today was our last picking day of the early season.
June 16, 2007: With the continued hot temperatures we are seeing a delayed response to the Easter freeze in the Canby raspberries -- canes with green berries are wilting and drying up as the slightly injured canes can not transport enough water and nutrients to the fruit and leaves. This affects about half of our raspberry acreage and will definitely limit the supply late in the season. The Nova seem unaffected and the Reveille are only moderately impacted with smaller than normal berry size. We will probably need to continue "resting" the field at least one or two days between picking.
June 5, 2007: Customers are coming a little faster than the berries are ripening up so we have been forced these last few days to pick every other day. It is beginning to look as if the Camby was damaged by the freeze much worse than I thought -- the first two pickings on the Camby yielded very few ripe berries. Fortunately, the Reveille and Nova both continue to look good but we may be a little tighter supply-wise than I had expected. No mold problems have been evident these last few days and the higher temperatures forecast for the next few days should totally eliminate this concern.
May 31: 2007: Red raspberry picking began one day earlier than anticipated. The red raspberries are in much better shape from the rains than the strawberries are but because of the extremely wet and moderate temperature conditions over the last week, some mold spots are evident but not widespread as yet. Since we don't spray for mold on the red Raspberries, continued cool, wet conditions could create a serious problem in the future.
May 24, 2007: Red raspberry bloom has tapered off dramatically which means it will be a very compressed season --- lots of berries but ripening pretty much in the second and third week of June. I saw the first ripe red Raspberry today!
May 9, 2007: The Red Raspberries are now in peak bloom -- with the warm temperatures and light winds that bees prefer the raspberry patch now looks like a "bee hive". Things are looking better than expected and I think we should have enough raspberries to satisfy the normal demand.
May 1, 2007: The Red Raspberries are beginning to bloom -- right on the normal schedule. While the blooms appear undamaged by the Easter freeze, the major issue is still whether the sparse green foliage and canes can support a modest fruit load.
April 25, 2007: Some new shoot growth on freeze damaged canes looks encouraging -- we should have a modest crop of summer red raspberries assuming the canes are able to handle heat stress conditions later in the season. The golden yellow raspberry Anne has been mowed to the ground for fruiting in September.
April 10, 2007: Since the early Red Raspberries were
not as far along as the strawberries, very few tender buds had formed. The
critical issue for the 2007 crop is whether enough cane damage occurred to
slow transport of moisture & nutrients to the fruiting canes under stress
conditions like high temperatures. We probably will not have a good
idea of the crop potential for 2007 until mid to late May.
The yellow raspberries (Anne) look especially hard hit since they are usually the first to break dormancy so we may elect to mow down all injured canes and shoot for a fall crop in August or September.
April 8, 2007: Four nights of freezing temperatures in the low 20's have caused significant damage to the tender emerging raspberry leaves and flower clusters.
March 27, 2007: Despite the relatively mild winter, it looks as if the Camby variety suffered some winter kill on the upper half of the canes once again.
March 22 & 23, 2007: 300 Nova and 600 Prelude new raspberry plants were planted as we gradually replace our winter injury plagued Camby with more dependable varieties.
March 19, 2007: All four raspberry varieties are starting to break dormancy.
July 1, 2006: This was our final picking day for 2006.
June 19, 2006: Camby picking is starting to trail off but Reveille, Anne, and Nova are just hitting their peak. Berry ripening and customer flow have been in pretty good balance for these last several days.
June 10, 2006: Raspberry picking is now at its peak but large crowds of Saturday customers forced to close earlier than our normal closing time of 12 noon.
June 5, 2006: Raspberry picking is still scattered but looks as if it should improve dramatically within the next few days. Customers are currently coming faster than the berries are ripening up and early close times appear likely for the next few days. Peak raspberry picking should still be the second and third week of June. Customers sampled a few golden raspberries today but there are not enough yet to bring home.
May 28, 2006: We allowed a few customers to pick scattered ripe raspberries in the earliest ripening Reveille and Nova. With the dry weather over the last two weeks we have had to irrigate our raspberries almost every day.
May 3, 2006: We are starting to see scattered bloom in the Camby, Nova, and Anne. Usually, Anne ripens about a week later than everything else but for 2006 it may come in with the "rest of the pack".
April 30, 2006: We are seeing scattered bloom in the Reveille which means that picking should start about the same time as last year
April 11, 2006: All varieties including Camby have broke dormancy and showing good leaf development. Some winter injury (similar to 2004) in Camby and Anne is now evident but the newer Nova and Reveille look excellent so we should still have a adequate supply of berries for 2006. Right now it looks as if the season should start about the normal time.
March 15, 2006: Both the Nova and Reveille Red raspberries are breaking dormancy -- much earlier than normal.
March 10, 2006: Our yellow raspberry, Anne, has started to break dormancy -- about a week earlier than last year.
August 14, 2005: Primocane growth on the Canby continues to look very poor on some rows but the six rows of new Reveille and Nova look excellent. While spider mite damage contributed, I suspect that some of the reasons Canby is looking so poor could be: 1) allowing too many canes (per foot) to fruit 2) not irrigating enough 3) fertilizing too late 4)a tired out "old" planting or most likely 5) poor control of leaf spot early in the season. Whatever the reason, it is obvious that our overall supply of red raspberries for 2006 will be less than 2005.
June 25, 2005: Today was our last picking date for 2005. I was a very concerned over the slow growth of primocanes for next year and terminated the season early to spray and fertilize. We had a reasonably good supply of berries still on the canes. Poor primocane growth. if not corrected, would lead to a poor crop for 2006.
June 21, 2005: We still have a good supply of red raspberries. Customer flow and berry supply continue to be well matched. The yellow raspberries are just starting to hit their peak. Canby size is smaller than the larger (and prettier) Nova but most customers still seem to prefer the taste of Canby over the more tart Nova.
June 10, 2005: Raspberry picking is in full swing now with kids picking them by the wagonload. We have seen some sunburn on the Reveille but overall quality looks excellent! The first few half pints of Anne yellow raspberries were picked today but picking in the yellow is still scattered.
June 1, 2005: Today was our first day of scattered picking for the Reveille but the berries are coming in real fast !!
May 11, 2005: We are starting to see scattered blooms in the Anne yellow raspberries -- a few days later than 2004. Canby, Nova, and Reveille are in full bloom --- the crop still looks excellent but will require irrigation each day because of the dry weather.
May 4, 2005: Despite the cooler weather the early raspberries continue to progress normally. Reveille is at about 10% bloom and there is scattered bloom in the Canby and Nova. We have had to run our overhead irrigation system two nights to protect the tender raspberry blossoms -- this is the first time in 14 years that we have had to do this on the early raspberries.
April 19, 2005: All three red raspberry varieties appear to at the same stage of growth now with the warmer weather we have had over the last few days. We should start seeing some blooms during the last few days of April.
April 12, 2005: We are starting to see blossom clusters now on Reveille and Camby. This is slightly ahead of last year.
April 5, 2005: Canby winter survival looks great -- we should have our best raspberry crop in several years!
March 30, 2005: Both the Nova and Canby are breaking dormancy now. Winter survival of the very tender Anne looks better than last year -- this may be a good indicator that our Canby also survived the winter in better shape than last year.
March 19, 2005: Both the Reveille and Anne raspberries have broken dormancy (this is normal for mid March). The Reveille seems to have survived the winter in good shape but it is a little too early to tell about the Anne which is usually much more tender.
June 25, 2004: Today was our last day for raspberry picking.
June 18, 2004: We still have a good supply of both red and yellow raspberries -- customers are starting to pick lots of the yellow because of their size and faster picking.
June 9, 2004: The early season red raspberries remain unaffected by the weather and are now at their peak -- we have an excellent supply available. Yellow raspberries are just starting to come in and should start to become available Thursday, June 10, right on schedule.
June 6, 2004: Most of the shorter canes that looked as if they had escaped winter injury and were loaded with berries are beginning to wilt. This could either be due to root rot caused by excessive rainfall or a delayed response to moderate winter injury that only manifested itself as the cane was stressed under a large fruit load. Either way, it will mean a much smaller crop and shorter season than I had expected.
June 4, 2004: Customers are coming just a little faster than the berries are ripening up and we are having to close before our normal closing time -- this is pretty common for early in the season.
May 28, 2004: We actually let a few pickers into the field these last two days to pick some of the early ripening Reveille and Nova but serious raspberry picking is still a few days off. The bushes look "loaded" with green berries.
May 11, 2004: The raspberry canes are loaded with blossoms and unripe berries. We should see some excellent raspberry picking that second week of June.
May 6, 2004: Nova and Reveille are now in full bloom and look loaded!. Canby is just starting to bloom. The golden Yellow raspberry Anne has just a few blooms but looks loaded as well. The shorter Canby canes that are usually the least productive seem to be doing exceptionally well this year -- it appears that only the thicker, taller canes were winter damaged significantly. Overall, we should have an excellent crop of Raspberries but customers may need to bend over a little more than usual for the shorter Canby canes.
April 17, 2004: Small buds are evident on some of the Canby, Nova, and Reveille Red Raspberries
April 11, 2004: Perhaps I was a little premature on my earlier statement on Canby winter injury; a closer look at several larger canes that were failing to leaf out showed that winter injury is very similar or possibly slightly worse than 2003. We should still have an adequate crop, however, since we were careful this year to leave lots of extra canes.
March 25, 2004: Some of the Canby Red Raspberry ( our main variety ) is starting to break dormancy -- there appears to be some winter injury but it appears not as bad as last year.
March 23, 2004: Both the Nova and Reveille Red raspberries are breaking dormancy -- slightly ahead of last year.
March 18, 2004: The Yellow Anne raspberries are starting to break dormancy and it looks as if they made it thru the winter in much better shape than last year. Canby, Nova, and Reveille are still dormant.
June 20, 2003: Red raspberries are still at their peak with good supplies available. Quality remains good. Yellow raspberry quality is improving with the drier weather and is starting to look good.
June 14, 2003: The Golden Yellow raspberry Anne, should be ready for picking on a first come first serve basis Monday morning June 16, 2003. Significant cane winter injury ( worse than Camby ) and loss of some berries to mold during these last few days will reduce the quantity of yellow raspberries available for June picking. We did not spray the yellow berries for mold so we are unfortunately counting on dry, hot weather to solve the mold problem. Continued cool, wet weather would pretty much eliminate and hopes of a significant June crop of yellow raspberries.
Our main Red raspberry variety, Camby continues to exhibit no significant mold problem and customers are finding excellent picking and high quality berries.
We should get a larger crop on Yellow raspberries in August based on the number of new shoots that are growing.
June 13, 2003: Raspberry picking is now running full tilt. Quality is excellent with no damage due to the rains over the last several days. Good picking should continue for another two weeks or so. We are starting to see our first ripe golden yellow raspberries -- click here for a picture of these HUGE raspberries.
June 6, 2003: We have permitted strawberry customers to pick some of the very earliest Reveille raspberry during this last week. We have only 150 feet of this variety so picking is on a first come first serve basis to the first few customers who come in. Our main variety, Camby should start to become available about June 10, a little later than normal because of the cooler weather.
May 30, 2003: I picked a half pint of Reveille raspberries today and was surprised by the excellent flavor and pretty appearance. Click here to see a picture of Reveille. This berry is definitely softer than Camby and probably will not keep a long time in the refrigerator.
May 25, 2003: Reveille berries are starting to show some redness so we are getting very close to picking.
May 14, 2003: The yellow raspberries that we pruned to harvest in June are just starting to bloom so they will be a little latter than our other varieties and unfortunately mature in the hotter part of June.
May 4, 2003: Camby is just starting to bloom -- this means that the peak of our early raspberry season will be in the June 11 to June 24 time frame.
April 29, 2003: We saw the first scattered blooms in the Reveille with both Nova and Camby almost ready to bloom.
April 16, 2003: The Reveille appear in tight bud and ready to bloom in a week or so -- this will be a very early Raspberry that should start in late May.
March 28, 2003: Some of the earliest raspberries like Reveille and Anne are starting to break dormancy and leaf out. The midseason variety, Camby, seems to have suffer some upper cane winter damage but appears in much better shape than last year. Our hardier newer varieties, Nova and Reveille show almost no winter damage at all.
Click here to see a pictures of customers picking berries ( and having fun ) on June 9, 2001. ( down load time 2 minutes ) this is a good picture of what the cold snaps in late winter do to the upper raspberry canes of Camby red raspberries.