Raspberries

Raspberries are grown for the fresh fruit market and for commercial processing into individually packaged frozen fruit, purée, juice, or as dried fruit used in a variety of grocery products. Traditionally, raspberries were a mid-summer crop, but with new technology, cultivars, and transportation, they can now be obtained year-round.

Raspberries need ample sun and water for optimal development. While moisture is essential, wet and heavy soils or excess irrigation can cause the root to rot. As a cultivated plant in moist temperate regions, it is easy to grow and has a tendency to spread unless pruned.

Two types of most commercially grown kinds of raspberry are available, the summer-bearing type that produces an abundance of fruit on second-year canes within a relatively short period in mid-summer, and double- or "ever"-bearing plants, which also bear some fruit on first-year canes in the late summer and fall, as well as the summer crop on second-year canes.