Ingredient and end product pictured on our Naramata raspberry farm
Our raspberries are summer captured in juicy jewel bites. When they hang out with Legend Distilling‘s craft vodka along with some BC blueberry and cranberry pals summer is but a pour away, anytime of the year.
A good portion of our Naramata Carpe Diem berry farm’s raspberries end up at Legend Distilling, a short walk from us. They use them as a cocktail garnish and in their Slowpoke Farm Berry Vodka.
Distiller and Legend owner Doug Lennie was pressing off the fruit that had been infusing into his craft vodka for a secret amount of time when I dropped off this morning’s harvest.
Doug giving the batch a stirThe spent fruit goes into a fruit pressThe raspberries have given up their lovely hue to the vodka.Fruit press in actionThe pressed juice goes back into the steel tank and the vodka will be bottled and labelled next week.
The whole operation is closely supervised by distillery dog Roxy
The vodka has a beautiful colour and Legend’s legendary view is the perfect backdrop. It tastes out of this world but for me the lovely fruity aroma is the best part.I can’t think of a better home for our organically-grown raspberries…
With every shovel of dirt came rocks and my future pints of raspberries went up another 10 cents. “That will be $50 please…” My revelation for the week was a reminder of just how hard farming is and how much it should really be worth.
It’s not that big a box right. How hard will this be? All planted in an hour right? It turned out to be 10 hours with two more days to add additional compost and mulch. The box contains 100 Prelude raspberry canes from an Ontario grower. In behind, in the early morning rays, are some of our blueberry bushes in raised beds.
In a backwards fashion we are adding to our symphony with a second 100 raspberry canes for our Carpe Diem berry farm. Last year we planted Encore raspberries, this year Prelude. Our Encores are doing great and establishing well. We will get a medium-sized harvest this year and a much bigger one next year as they mature.
The berries on the Encore raspberries planted last year are forming up nicely.Taken from the tree fort balcony, here is a look at part of last year’s planting.
We chose Prelude and Encore raspberries to offer our customers early and late season berries while our competitors have the more commonly harvested supply. Prelude and Encore were developed by Cornell University at the New York State Experiment Station in Geneva, New York.Prelude matures a high percentage of its fruit in late June and early July while Encore is harvested from late July to early August. Like picking paint colours, I have to admit I was also swayed by the musical names.
Raspberry cane planting primer
Site selection is key. Pick a sunny and sheltered location with well-drained soil with no chance of waterlogging or flooding, as on a slope or in raised rows. Our location is on gentle slope. Raspberries don’t like wet feet but they also have a shallow root system so must not be allowed to dry out either.
Prepare your planting holes about two feet apart in rows about six feet apart.
75 of our 100 will be planted here. Each of those 75 holes were dug by The Handyman with a pick-axe and shovel. Because we are a small operation we aren’t too mechanized.
Plant certified disease-free stock in early spring. Ours came from Strawberry Thyme Farmin Ontario and was sent to us by refrigerated courier. I tried to find a British Columbia source that could beat their price but was unable to. Prelude came early. Last year Strawberry Thyme had let us know that they were shipping the Encores but being Prelude I guess they had to come before we were ready. We had hoped to have the posts, cross bracing, wires and drip irrigation installed but…they will have to follow as the plants must go in the ground as soon as possible after they arrive as their dormancy will break and the roots could dry out.
I popped the canes into a bucket of water while I worked.
Add a shovel-full of compost to the planting hole and water in well.
Compost is king in our nutrient-poor sandy soil. I will top-dress the planting every spring as well.
Plant the crowns at the same depth as in the nursery.
Add more compost mixed in with the soil you have dug out of the hole and water in very well.
The Handyman supplies me with lots of mulch from his chipper.
Add a layer of mulch to keep the weeds at bay and to help conserve moisture. I watered again once the mulch was in place.
In a week or so I will add some Alaska Fish Fertilizerandwill continue hand-watering until the canes are well established and showing signs of life or The Handyman has had time to install all the posts, wires and drip irrigation. This should wait until he runs his marathon next week as post pounding does not equal taper.
Rocks and more rocks…how much can we charge for a pint?View of the tree fort with the last year’s Encore planting and this year’s PreludeI will plant a drought-tolerant grass seed in between the rows to help keep the canes in their rows. The lawnmower will trim off the suckers in the grassy strips.
Prelude produces attractive, high quality, firm fruit that will taste amazing. I can’t wait although now that all the canes are in I’m starting to think about the hours of picking ahead and price of those pints.
Next up is the addition of 50 more blueberry bushes and a netting structure to protect the blueberries from the birds.
A good portion of our Naramata Carpe Diem berry farm’s raspberries end up at Legend Distilling, a short walk from us. They use them as a cocktail garnish and in their Slowpoke Farm Berry Vodka.
Next up is the addition of 50 more blueberry bushes and a netting structure to protect the blueberries from the birds.
naramata-blend 