August update!

Well…. I picked my first PEACH from my tree!  Been eating a few blueberries and raspberries but no blackberries so far.   There are only a few strawberries but at least the plants now have a home and I look forward to more. There are bunches and bunches of grapes.   Have picked 5 or 6 eggplant and a few more cucumbers.  A billion tomatoes will ripen real soon... probably during this next heat spell.  I've had a few peppers and 2 carrots are growing (the tomatoes pushed them out..  have to find another place for them). The squash, melons and watermelons have suffered because I'm a procrastinator but there is still hope. Most of the apples are rotting on the tree (gotta figure that out) but the pear tree is amazing  I'm looking forward to rhubarb next year and will figure out a way to get to the cherries before the birds do!  Pretty darn cool, huh?

Can you say raspberries!!

I just couldn’t decide where to plant raspberries.  Then I thought.. near the house so I can munch on them on nice mornings!  Between the house and this patch will be a patio…  I envision breakfast on the patio within reach of the raspberry bushes!  yum!

Whole Grain Raspberry Bars

Thanks Mavis!

Holy raspberry season Batman! I am swimming in them and looking for raspberry recipes to try. This one looked like a perfect treat for breakfast and it did not disappoint. Plus it’s on the healthier side, which makes me feel like Mom of the Year when I feed it to my kids.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats {I used old fashioned}
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (oat flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 
1/4 cup wheat germ (flax seed)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup vegetable oil (olive oil)
1 egg (egg beaters)

Raspberry Filling
1 pint raspberries
1/4 cup sugar (stevia)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine raspberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly. Simmer 2 minutes while continuing to stir constantly until sauce is thick and translucent. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine oats, flour, sugar, wheat germ and cinnamon in a food processor. Process until oats are finely ground { I totally forgot to grind mine and the bars still turned out great!}. Add oil and egg, and pulse until combined. Press half of the crumb mixture evenly on bottom of a 9×9 baking pan/dish. Pour raspberry filling over crumbs, spreading evenly. Top with remaining crumbs and gently pat mixture down. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let bars cool completely before cutting into bars.

Raspberry bushes…

I think I finally came up with a location I’m happy with for the raspberry bushes.. 

    

This certainly didn’t work!

Raspberries–gotta get them planted!!

This looks like a good idea!!

Raised beds eliminate root rot

Raspberry plants hate wet feet, and they are gross feeders. We addressed these two critical points by building a 20-inch-high raised bed and filling it with a mixture of four-fifths good garden topsoil blended with about one-fifth sand, peat, and well-rotted manure. If, like us, you have acidic soil, you will also need to add some lime, because raspberries prefer a soil pH of around 6.0. We left one end of the box open to allow easy access with our wheelbarrows, then closed it in when the box was full. This job can be done in the fall, so you are ready to plant, come spring.

If you have rich, deep soil that drains well year-round, you can simply plant your raspberries in a permanent garden site. Not us. The Pacific Northwest gets rain all winter, and many gardeners lose raspberries to root rot because they make the mistake of planting their raspberries' fussy little toes directly in the ground, which is often soggy clay covered with a skim of topsoil. We also experience a two-month drought most summers. Raised beds allow us to have deep soil that holds moisture evenly yet drains well.

It is important that you do not establish your raspberry patch in an area where you have recently grown tomatoes, peppers, or potatoes, to avoid verticillium wilt, which these vegetables can carry, and raspberries can catch.