In the spring of 2010, Farmer Bill bought 22 acres that adjoins the original 30-acre farm. That piece had been planted in a rotation of corn and soybeans for years - about 17 acres of it is tillable. We purchased the land from a family named Van Erp, so I call it the Van Erp addition. One of the first things to move into part of the new ground was the raspberries. Raspberries have always been the neglected stepchild of our farm, but Bill is sure that they can be a good crop if he can give them some time and attention. A fellow fruit grower - Lorence Berry Farm in Northfield - has raised strawberries and raspberries for several generations. But 2 years ago, Sean took out his summer raspberries and committed to fall raspberries only. [Sean and his wife have school-age children and they decided that having a break between strawberries and fall raspberries to spend some summer time together as a family was important enough to make that change.] So Farmer Bill decided he would grow only summer raspberries and began work on rebuilding the raspberry patch. But he didn't reckon with the Spotted Wing Drosophila.
Spotted Wing Drosophila - or SWD - is a fruit fly accidentally imported from Asia. It looks similar to the fruit flies you get around your bananas or your compost container in your house. The major difference is that SWD feeds on ripening fruit rather than overripe fruit. It burrows into a ripening raspberry and lays eggs, which hatch into tiny white larva that feed on the fruit and grow into flies and go off to repeat the process. There are no OMRI-approved methods that effectively deal with this pest. So, in order to have any raspberry crop without fruit fly larva you must use a conventional spray. And, because the flies are not from around here, a really cold winter is good, too. In other parts of the country the fly is even more of a problem because it gets into any soft-fleshed fruit: raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, peaches, nectarines, cherries, and grapes to name a few. The fly has about a 3-week life cycle in which a female can lay hundreds of eggs - so in warmer climates there can be anywhere from 4-7 generations. SWD don't get into strawberries much in Minnesota because of the timing of the strawberry season, but they are definitely a problem for other fruit. Our 2013 raspberry crop had to be abandoned when the SWD caught up to our farm and were in every raspberry within a week. The 2014 crop was better, because we had a harsh winter 2013-14 and many SWD didn't survive. This year the raspberries are better yet, but there are still things for Farmer Bill to learn about them - e.g., tarnished plant bugs cause strange dried-up gray-brown spots on raspberries - they need to be treated at blossom.
In 2011 Bill planted about a 1/2-acre of blueberries out on the Van Erp addition. Blueberries are currently a popular fruit for their health benefits as well as their taste. They need acidic soil to grow, and central and southern Minnesota soil tends to be alkaline so the soil has to be amended where they are planted, and the acidity has to be maintained. Peat is acidic, so a large load of peat was brought to the farm. A hole was dug for each blueberry plant, peat added to the hole, the plants put in and the hole filled. If he'd been planting more area, some mechanization of that process would have been done, but since it was only 1/2-acre, Farmer Bill & the crew just did it by hand. The blueberries have drip irrigation (as do the raspberries now) through which we can put soil nutrients as needed. If necessary, overhead sprinkler irrigation can be set up in the blueberries and the raspberries for frost protection. Blueberries are very slow growing plants. This 4th year after planting is the first that we've had a consistent production of blueberries and so far the interest from the consumer seems to be there.
I don't know whether Bill will ever go to pick-your-own for the raspberries or the blueberries. You have to have a very consistent crop to do PYO, and his patches aren't there yet. They also might not be big enough to do open PYO as we do for the strawberries. For example, it might have to be by appointment, which adds a whole other complication to the process. We continue to toss around ideas on how to possibly manage PYO in the raspberries and blueberries, but so far no firm conclusions.
Personally, I am excited about the 'pretty good' crops of both fruit this year. Raspberry jam is good stuff, and blueberries both in and on our pancakes and waffles are a treat. My favorite is a fruit compote poured over angel food or pound cake, but I also like a bowl of lightly sweetened fruit all on its own. Farmer Bill makes himself pancakes about 5 days out of 7 during the winter months, and fruit on top is just as popular with him as maple syrup.
