Raspberry Season Is Here

It’s The Perfect Time For Eating Raspberries ...

fields full of raspberry canes with raspeberries waiting to be harvested

Like many berries, raspberries are best eaten within a few days of being picked ... so now is the best time to get you’re fill of these gorgeous, red berries.

Although methods of modern cultivation, transport and preserving techniques let you buy ‘fresh’ raspberries virtually all year round, it always seems nicer – and it’s also much cheaper - if you eat raspberries when they are naturally in season. In the UK that’s just about now ... so if you haven’t got raspberry canes in your garden or allotment this is the best time to find you local ‘pick your own’ and get picking ...

What Makes A Raspberry A Raspberry?

ripe raspberries ready to be picked on raspberry cane

The Shape
We think of raspberries as ‘berries’, but in botanical terms, raspberries are an ‘aggregate fruit’, each raspberry being made up of lots of little ‘drupelets’ formed around a central core.

Unlike when you pick a blackberry and the core remains within the fruit, when you pick a ripe raspberry, the core is left behind and all you get are the juicy ‘druplets’ forming the distinctive raspberry shape around a hollow core. This means that every part of the raspberry you pay for is edible! Natural value for money!

The Taste
With a distinctive, melt in mouth texture, raspberries aren’t as sweet as a strawberry but rather have a slight ‘tartness’ whilst still being sweet enough to eat without sugar.

The Colour
Although the most common variety of raspberries (rubius idaeus) is a pinkish-red colour, there are a wide variety of raspberries available in different colours.
Other popular raspberries are black and yellow. Whilst other, less common, varieties are purple, orange and white in colour.

fresh raspberries just picked from the raspberry canes

Why We Should Love Raspberries ...

What did the raspberry say to the blueberry?
"I love you berry, berry much!"

And this is actually what we should be saying to raspberries ... they are really healthy.

Rich In Vitamin C
As you stuff yourself full of fresh raspberries you could be helping your skin. The high levels of vitamin C in raspberries aid collagen to form which is necessary for healthy, young skin. But to get at these high levels of vitamin C you should eat the raspberries as soon as possible after they have been picked.
High In Fibre
500g of raspberries will provide about 20-30g of fibre which is half the recommended daily amount of fibre for adults.
Low In Calories
Wow ... something that tastes good and is low in calories! You get just ten calories from ten raspberries (19g) ... so you can get stuck in without any guilt.
Contain Ellagic Acid
Ok ... I didn’t know what ellagic acid did either ... but it’s very cool. A natural plant compound, ellagic acid is an anti-carcinogenic compound (a cancer-preventing compound). This acid neutralises the carcinogen PAH which is found in cigarette smoke and research it to have anti-cancer effects.
Lutein Included
Raspberries contain lutein which is important for healthy vision – research has shown that by eating three or more portions of fruit a day will help us to retain our eyesight as we get older.
These are just a few of the reasons to eat raspberries – they are also a valuable source of iron, folate, potassium, calcium and vitamin A.

red raspberry, the biggest raspberry we could find on the raspberry canes

Have Raspberries Always Been Around?

Not forever, but raspberries have been around for a very, very long time ... dating back to prehistoric times.
However these were wild raspberries and it wasn’t until 1548 that we have accounts of raspberries being cultivated – written about in an English herbal ... so another fruit valued for its healthy aspects before its taste.
And it wasn’t until the 19th century that we saw raspberries being grown throughout Europe and North America when new varieties were developed and cultivated.