Few things in life are better than going outside and collecting some ripe berries to eat for lunch! In Norway we have a pretty short window where there are ripe berries or fruits available, but during these few months I'll make sure to go and harvest as many as possible before they get spoiled.
Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) are a very nice plant to have in your yard. They are pretty cheap to buy, they grow fast, and they don't really require any tending at all. This means that they are ideal for people who are new to gardening, or people who just want some berries without any hassle. Our bushes are getting bigger each year despite being cut every autumn!
As you can see from the image, it's full of weeds and grass that have grown very high, and unfortunately I also have lots of nettles (Urtica dioica) mixed in the with raspberry plants, so I get stung too much while trying to harvest some berries. I really regret not getting rid of these earlier in the summer!
Image by
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Most of the berries still need a few more days, or maybe a week or two before they are ripe, but I could easily collect enough to get a nice treat with my lunch.
Golden / yellow raspberries
If you took a look at the image above you might have noticed that a few of the raspberries are yellow or golden colored instead of the original red. No, I didn't collect undeveloped berries, it's just a different strain of raspberries. Many people think it's a different species, but the red color is actually controlled by a pigment called anthocyanin. Some raspberries lack the gene to produce this pigment, and we end up with golden raspberries. They should taste just the same, but some people claim that they have a sweeter taste.
It's possible to buy raspberry plants that produce these holden raspberries, so luckily you won't need to breed a plant with the lacking gene yourself!
I have mostly red raspberries in my yard, but a few of the plants produce golden raspberries. They are really cool, but it's a little more difficult to tell if they are actually ripe or not, because the color is not that different between ripe and unripe berries.
Anyway, thanks for reading!