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Ode to the Raspberry

There’s nothing better than a bowl of fresh fruit or berries for dessert, served with a dollop of slightly beaten fresh cream. For me, the ultimate luxury would be a bowl of raspberries. Next to the white peach, it would have to be my favorite, and it’s packed with goodness.

Whilst red raspberries are thought to originate in Asia Minor, there are Roman records dating back to the 4th century AD. It’s natural to assume that the Romans initially spread the cultivation of raspberries throughout Europe however it was the English who cultivated, hybridized and improved them throughout the middle ages and subsequently exported the plants to the US by the late 1700’s. The Black raspberry is indigenous only to North America, where it is most abundant in the east. Domestic cultivation seemed to have been delayed until the 1800s due to the popularity of red raspberries which were classed as a luxury up until that time.

Some cultures consider the raspberry as a love-inducing fruit. More commonly raspberry is used during pregnancy in tea or other vehicles for combating the nausea and vomiting that accompany morning sickness.

A little history: berries were gathered from the wild by the people of Troy in the foothills of Mt. Ida around the time of Christ. Records of domestication were found in 4th century writings of Palladius, a Roman agriculturist, and seeds have been discovered at Roman forts in Britain. In Medieval Europe, wild berries were considered both medicinal and utilitarian. Their juices were used in paintings and illuminated manuscripts. During this period only the rich partook of their tasty bounty. King Edward I (1272 - 1307) is recognized as the first person to call for the cultivation of berries. By the seventeenth century, British gardens were rich with berries and berry bushes. By the eighteenth century berry cultivation practices had spread throughout Europe.

When settlers from Europe came to America they found Native Americans already utilizing and eating berries. Due to the nomadic nature of this culture, berries were dried for preservation and ease of transportation. Settlers also brought cultivated raspberries that were native to Europe with them to the new colonies. The first commercial nursery plants were sold by William Price in 1771.

In 1761 George Washington moved to his estate, Mount Vernon, where he began to cultivate berries in his extensive gardens. By 1867 over 40 different varieties were known. After the Civil War major production areas emerged in the regions of New York, Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. By 1880 approximately 2,000 acres were in cultivation. By 1919 production had risen to 54,000 acres. By 1948 growth had slowed to 60,000 acres.

Today, the leading producing regions for red raspberries are Washington, Oregon, and California. However, Washington accounts for nearly 60% of the U.S. production of red raspberries at nearly 70,000,000 pounds per year.

We grow raspberries in our Irish garden too. Every year seem to bring more, as originally, they were planted for undergrowth bushes, and seem to multiply wildly in the shade of alders and willows.