Earlier this summer I posted one of my very favorite recipes for raspberry pie! I grew up with a backyard full of fruit trees and berries with a Dad who tended to them like prize possessions, so it’s no wonder that I have such a love of fruit. Summers meant running around the backyard barefoot noshing on all of the fresh fruit I could get my little hands on.

Raspberries are my go-to berry because they’re delicate in nature and can be both sweet and tart. My parents have several healthy raspberry plants in their backyard, and for my 30th Birthday they gifted me enough raspberry starts to get one full row in our backyard.

I have such sneaky parents…they gave me both a gift and a ton of work! ha! Welcome to your thirties Kristen!

My parents brought over two varieties of raspberries which include Everbearing Raspberries and Willamette Raspberries. Both varieties have grown really well for my parents, so I’m hoping they adapt well to our Jory soil. I figured if the grapes like it, hopefully my raspberries will too!

First things first…I located the T-posts and used our T-post pounder to drive the posts into the ground. You can see the T-post pounder resting on the top of the right T-post. Speaking from experience, I recommend asking for some help if your not quite tall enough to get the T-post started into the ground. Leverage is the key to success!

I then raked back the barkdust to expose the soil where I’d be digging my holes.

I used the wheelbarrow as my “soil storage area” between digging and planting each set of raspberry starts. Using the wheelbarrow worked out really well and I was able to keep the dirt contained and get most of it back in the holes.

Before planting each set of raspberry starts, I added some enriched soil out of the garden bed to the bottom of the hole along with a light dusting of Fruit, Berry & Vine Food.

The first set of starts went in pretty quickly. The plants on the far right are the Everbearing variety and the rest are Willamette raspberries.

You’ll notice that I mounded the dirt around the roots. My Dad recommended planting them this way and since I have no experience planting berries, I decided to take his word for it. Apparently, by creating the small mount around the roots you help keep the roots from getting too wet during the winter, but you also need to make sure to water them good in the summer since they’re more exposed.

Once all of the raspberries were in the ground I was ready to call it a day. But then I remembered that we had bailing wire in the shop and decided I ought to string some wires to help support the berries.

Since these starts are pretty low to the ground I strung three rows of wire.

I certainly could have put much more time and effort into stringing the wire, but I figured I would give the berries a full growing season before I went all out. If the berries are healthy and have a strong growing season, I’m sure I’ll be back out here next summer coming up with a better support system for the vines.

With all that said, I was happy with the way my row of berries turned out! The berries are just off the path to our paver patio and have enough room to get around the backside with a wheel barrow.

I’m envisioning all sorts of raspberry pies in my future. I owe a big thank you to my Mom and Dad for such a thoughtful Birthday gift, it’s a gift that just keeps on giving! Cheers!