On Wednesday June 26, Farmer Bill found SWD (spotted wing drosophila) in some of the ripe berries. SWD is a fruit fly that lays its eggs in ripe fruit. The eggs hatch into larva that feed on the fruit before morphing into flies themselves.
There are no easy ways to combat this invasive fly or to get rid of them once they've arrived. Multiple generations occur each year. So we have made the hard choice to close the raspberry patch - leaving it to the flies - and will only have blueberries. [SWD will almost certainly leave the blueberries alone and stay in the raspberries because blueberries are harder to penetrate.]
6-8 is a good minimum age for picking raspberries due to the prickly nature of raspberry canes, and the mosquitoes and bees that love the raspberry patch. Children of all ages need to be assisted and monitored when picking.
Ripe raspberries should slide easily off their core.
If you have to tug the berry isn't ripe yet
and won't be sweet or juicy.
Mosquitoes love to hang out in raspberries, so consider bringing repellent spray.
Honeybees really love raspberry blossoms, but are generally pretty peaceful and can usually just be
avoided, or gently swished away. If you get agitated around the bees, they'll get agitated, too. Stay calm and pick around them, wait for them to move on, or move to another spot.
3733 220th St E, Faribault MN 55021
Telephone: 507-334-2226 Email:info@straightriverfarm.com
Straight River Farm © 2023
Fruit from our farm to your table
Raspberries by the numbers
1 pint = 2 cups
1 pint raspberries weighs about
12 ounces (3/4 pound)
5-6 pints of raspberries are
needed for a batch of jam.
Freezing raspberries:
Rinse gently and drain/dry thoroughly. Put into plastic bags or containers, seal & freeze. Or, spread them on cookie sheets, freeze, and then put into bags or containers.