Why You Need to Grow Your Own Raspberries

If you have any yard at all, even a really small one, then I want to convince you to start growing raspberries. At our last house, I stuck a few raspberry roots in clay soil in a narrow section of lawn behind our shed. They got full sun until about 1pm when the shed put them in full shade. Despite this, they absolutely thrived. In one little patch I had enough delicious raspberries for fresh eating, pancakes, muffins and smoothies and I froze a gallons worth for future cooking. Why should you grow raspberries?

First, and most obviously, they are delicious. Seriously, if you've never had fresh raspberries from the garden, then you're missing out. They are SO GOOD.

Second, raspberries are quite expensive at the store or farmers market. The national average for a pint of fresh raspberries right now is $4.78. We can't ever afford them unless we grow them. If you want to garden for financial purposes, then growing raspberries is a good idea.

Third, raspberries are so easy. I planted the roots in the ground and spent maybe a grand total of 5 minutes keeping the weeds down the whole year. In the winter, I cut down the canes to about 12 inches. That's it. That is all I did. That and pick a bunch of delicious berries.

Have I convinced you yet? As I said, raspberries tend to be sold as roots. You can order them from any number of catalog nurseries (mine came from Gurneys) or from your local garden center. Here in PA, you'll probably plant them some time in March or April. I grew "Heritage" raspberries at the old house and plan on planting them here at the new place as well. As resilient as they are, raspberries will need some sunlight and a well drained location.

One word of caution, bramble roots (raspberries and such) can spread vigorously. Mowing keeps them in check but don't plant them along a fence unless your neighbors want raspberries too. I made the mistake of putting strawberries in next to the raspberries and had to pull a lot of raspberry shoots out of the strawberry bed. Our new location will be along the back of the shed away from other yards and gardens.

You can do this! For less than $20 you can have tons of delicious fresh berries in your yard. Have you grown raspberries before? Feel free to share in the comments below.