Click here for seasonal information and hours on our early (June) red raspberries
Picking will be Monday thru Saturday from 8 AM until 12 Noon. . Enter our farm at the lower level across the street from Grace Church and follow the instructions on the white dry erase board -- call me on my cell phone (636-387-2695) if you need additional help or directions to the raspberry patch.
November 11, 2011: The heavy freeze last night finally brought our late raspberry season to an end --- the berries were plentiful up to the end!
October 24, 2011: The warmer weather of the last few days has speeded up berry ripening and we now have a good supply of berries available for picking.
October 21, 2011: Picking is starting to become more scattered now as the weather continues to cool. Berry size on the Prelude is still good but the berries are not ripening up as fast as they were earlier which means that the supply of berries is more limited. I suggest calling my cell phone number listed above the morning you plan to pick for the most up-to-date report on picking conditions.
October 15, 2011: A very, very busy sales day setting an all time record for single day late season Raspberry sales going back at least 20 years ! Picking in the newer Prelude was excellent with berry size as large as I have ever seen for this variety. Their is still some Nova and Fall Gold but picking there is more scattered and berry size is smaller. Some very cold weather (and potential frosts) are expected later next week so it would be a good idea to call my cell phone the morning you plan to leave for the latest berry report.
October 6, 2011: The dry weather, cooler nights and warm days is "made to order" weather for fall Raspberries. Our supply of Prelude berries is now excellent so we can extend the days we are open to six days per week. The supply and size of Nova remains slightly less than normal. There is still a fair supply of Fall Gold available for "early bird" raspberry pickers.
September 27, 2011: Today was our best late season raspberry picking day so far. Prelude size and color are excellent and Nova size is starting to look normal.
September 19, 2011: Late raspberry Prelude picking is at its peak now and Nova picking has just begun. Prelude size and color look very good but Nova size remains smaller than normal. The cooler weather and rains have been very beneficial. Cucumber beatles, who normally only munch on pumpkins, gourds, and squash have also discovered that our new Fall Gold raspberries are quite tasty and high sugar content so our yellow raspberry supply may be impacted for these next few weeks.
September 9, 2011: Prelude size has improved with the cooler weather and picking is starting to look better. The Fall Gold yellow raspberries are still smaller in size but have a very attractive orange blush color when completely ripe and good flavor.
September 2, 2011: Red Raspberry picking continues to be very scattered. The +100ºF temperatures and intense sunlight have damaged some Prelude directly exposed to the sun during the hottest part of the day but berries hanging under the foliage continue to be OK. The new yellow raspberry, Fall Gold, while somewhat damaged is holding up much better in the sun than the variety(Anne) we used to grow. Unfortunately, Fall Gold berry size is disappointing. Small size also seems to be a serious problem on the Nova just starting to ripen -- I'm not sure whether this size problem is due to the high temperatures, not enough irrigation, or nutrient problems.
August 27, 2011: Our first Fall Gold raspberries were picked today. While the size is small, the flavor is excellent !
August 25, 2011: Berries were more scattered on our first day of picking so we will limit picking to only 3 days per week to allow for easier picking.
August 15, 2011: Although the leaves on our Prelude canes have been "preferred eating" for Japanese beetles during June & July, we did a much better job of controlling these voracious pests in 2011 with Sevin sprays on almost a weekly basis. In 2011, we will have 600 feet of Nova: 600 feet of older Prelude, and 700 feet of newly planted Prelude ( Nova and Prelude are June fruiting varieties that also produce a modest crop of fall raspberries in August, September and October). I am expecting an excellent fall crop from the 2011 planted Prelude but only a very modest harvest of smaller berries from the older Prelude. Our older Prelude unfortunately bloomed during the hottest part of July and suffered accordingly from the several weeks of +95ºF, but the later maturing 2011 Prelude planting fall crop is coming along fine since the weather finally cooled off.
For 2011, I am estimating that the Nova will become available in early September. A very limited supply of Fall Gold yellow raspberries will probably be available for early customers each day that we are open. Both Red and Yellow raspberry picking will be on a first come basis so until the newer Prelude and Nova planting hits peak picking in mid September, we will be very limited supply-wise. Fall raspberry picking will continue until our first hard frost or the end of October (whichever comes first)
Prelude is a very mild tasting berry that can be picked even when not totally ripe but Nova is a rather tart but very pretty berry that must be totally ripe (very dark red) or you'll have difficulty getting the berry off the bush. For more information on the differences among our raspberry varieties see http://www.lakeview-farms.com/RaspberryVarietiesCombined.htm