My raspberry plants make me feel like an amazing gardener!
If you looked at the volume of produce I get out of the rest of my garden, you would not consider me an amazing gardener. But my raspberries…that’s another story!
I planted two raspberry plants four years ago. I intentionally chose the variety that produces fruit two times each year. The first fruiting comes on in June, and the second fruiting comes on around September.
Even though I only planted two small bushes in the ground, now my raspberry patch covers over 20 feet long and is 2-3 feet deep. Last year when the first fruiting got going, I would pick two quarts of fresh berries each morning for two weeks straight!
All of that from two small raspberry plants four years ago.
Now, they are not always producing fruit, as I am sure you have understood by now. What I do for the plants and to the plants in the early spring has an impact on the amount of fruit and the size of the fruit in the summer.
If I spend time pulling out any weeds in the early spring, it allows more space for the raspberry plants to grow.
If I spend time hooking up my soaker hose to a timer, and spreading it throughout the raspberry patch, then just 10 minutes of water twice a day will allow those plants to thrive and get ready for fruiting season.
If I spend time putting fertilizer onto the soil, then it allows the berries to grow larger and more delicious.
Likewise, how I prune the plants after fruiting season, has a direct effect on the next fruiting’s crop.
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Let me explain to you a little more about this variety of raspberry. The health and vitality of the plants is largely dependent upon the root system. Each spring new shoots are sent up and out from the base of the roots to begin growing.
As in all of nature, the raspberry plant is designed to reproduce and spread out. Each time it sends out new shoots, it sends them out farther and farther away from the original base. Those new shoots grow up to 5 feet tall, and they produce berries in September. Those shoots are called canes once they reach their full-grown height.
When the shoots come up, they are green in color, and tender to the touch. As fall progresses and winter approaches, those shoots shed their leaves and stems as the plant switches gears to survive the cold of winter.
Once winter passes, and spring comes back around, those same canes are the first to produce leaves, while new shoots begin to emerge from the ground. These canes from last season are the first ones to produce fruit this season in June.
This year however, the canes are not green in color. They are brown, and they are very tough from experiencing the cold winter. They are covered in short thorns as well, which can be abrasive to your skin as you’re picking the fruit or working around the plant.
Once these canes produce their fruit in June, they die off. They shed their leaves and stems again, yet there will be no new life or fruit coming from them.
When this happens, it’s very important to cut them off near the ground and to get rid of them. I tend to burn them. This does a few things.
First, it allows more space for the other shoots coming up that spring to spread their leaves out and capture more sunshine to allow for better fruit production in the next couple months.
The second thing it does is it allows all the nutrients in the roots to go to the part of the plant that is producing new life and fruit. It is not wasted on trying to keep alive the part that is dying.
Here is why I explained that whole process to you: what I do in the summer between harvesting the fruit, has a direct impact on whether I get any or much fruit in September.
If I take time to prune out the old canes that will no longer produce again, I allow the plant to grow well and produce well for the upcoming fall season.
If I take time to cut away the parts that are no longer serving the plant, I allow the plant the space to thrive and keep growing in beneficial ways.
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Here is the reality: there are different seasons to being a raspberry farmer. There are different responsibilities for each season in order to ensure a great fruit production.
Each season requires specific and different tasks!
I bet you are seeing the parallel to where this is headed. Just as there are different seasons to being a raspberry farmer, there are different seasons in our lives as well.
We have different seasons when we look at our age. There is childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
We could also say that there are different seasons when it comes to our career, or even our income and how we make and handle our money.
Depending which season of life we are in depends on what is required of us.
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What does this season that you are in right now require of you?
Does this season require lots of learning?
Does this season require lots of energy output?
Does this season require planting or fertilizing or pruning?
Does this season require harvesting?
When you know what this season requires of you, it gives you clarity to know how to be successful in this season.
I want you to be successful.
Gain clarity by asking yourself those questions.
Answer them with honesty and integrity.
Then get to work.
Because when we Know Better, we tend to Do Better.
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