Raspberry (Rubus Idaeus)

Where: Hedgerows, woodland margins and clearings. Common throughout UK. 

What: Berries.

When: Mid-June – August

By late June, if you are lucky enough, then you may be able to forage Raspberries. Related to the Blackberry, and superficially similar looking, the Raspberry plant is smaller that your standard bramble and is often overlooked lurking in hedgerows, or simply mistaken for a slightly odd version of it’s cousin. 

The plant can grow to a height of 1m, but is usually much lower to the ground, and has a thick, yellow-green, stem trailing throughout the hedgeback and climbing on other plants. This stem looks very thorny, almost hairy (especially compared with the Blackberry), but these reddish coloured thorns are soft, and so picking the fruit is not the trial it is with brambles. The leaves are a mid-dark green, occasionally shiny on the upper and pale below, and are slightly hairy on the upper, more hairy below. They are oval in shape, clearly veined and often taking on a wrinkled appearance, have a serrated edge, and occur in groups of 5 or 7 leaflets, with the longest, terminal, leaflet measuring up to 10cm long and 6 cm wide.  

  

The flowers, arriving in April/May, are white and are small (max. 1cm across) made up of 5 delicate petals with green triangular sepals separating them, and with a centre comprised of white stamens with reddish tips.  

By the start of June, you should be able to see the fruit growing – pale green and hard at first but slowly turning orange, and finally the classic warm translucent red. The berry itself is soft and juicy, perhaps a little sharp tasting, but still sweet with that wonderful flavour. The fruit is smaller than the shop bought variety, measuring just 1.5-2cm, but is in the classic shape, and looks just like an unripe red Blackberry. The berry hangs down underneath the leaves, usually in groups of up to three, so you have to go looking for it, literally turning plants upside down, and whilst not growing in the same quantities as the Blackberry (actually, depending on the plant, fairly sparsely), they are well worth the effort.

Use the berries in any way you see fit – pies, salads, breakfast, juice them, add them to chilled white wine for an evening drink… hell, just pop them in your mouth and chomp! They freeze well, but are a tad mushy when defrosted! In a wonderful display of irony (and with a sense of mischievous glee), my main Raspberry plant is in my local supermarket car park, and whilst they are currently having a sale on Raspberries (£1.99 for a punnet), I can get mine for free!