Raspberry Love

Raspberries are my all time favorite berry. Huckleberries and Blueberries are tied for second and then Blackberries and Marionberries. There are lots of other berries that grow here in the Pacific Northwest (gooseberry, thimbleberry, salmonberry, serviceberry, elderberry, etc.) which I love for other reasons, but when it comes down to it I still love Raspberries the best.

Here are just some of the ways to enjoy these luscious berries:

Raspberries raw straight off the plant...enough said. Yum.

Raspberry Smoothies...that is, if you can actually can make it into the house with enough to put into the blender.
My smoothies are usually dairy free, if I do include dairy I use a glop of yogurt. The rest is up to your imagination, but I like to use a banana for the base, then in this case lots of raspberries, some honey, and maybe a dash and a half of cinnamon. Drink on the back porch and share with worthy friends!

Raspberry Jam
I wont go into the details of making jam here, but this is my favorite jam to make and they make lovely Winter Solstice presents, who wouldnt want a jar of summer love in the dark of winter? If you want to make the jam fresh all at once, you need a LoT of raspberries at one time so that is something to think about.

Raspberry Infused Balsamic Vinegar
Makes a sweet and sour deliciousness that is lovely mixed with olive oil for salad dressing.
Fill bottom 1/4 of half-pint mason jar with raspberries. Cover with balsamic vinegar and put lid on. Shake and infuse with the magic of midsummer. Infuse over night and feel free to use the next day. Its vinegar so will keep infusing as long as you let it and the raspberries eventually disintegrate.

Raspberry Infused Vodka
Very easy and becomes delicious very quickly. Fill quart jar 1/4 of the way with raspberries. Cover with vodka to the very top. Cap it and let infuse for 4-6 weeks. If you cant wait that long, feel free to give a taste test along the way!

Raspberry Crisp/Tart
Just made the tart tonight and made the crisp a few weeks ago. I am officially high on raspberries after tart completion. For the tart filling, I used a raspberry jam that I made last year and covered the top with strawberries fresh picked from the garden. Yowza. Really good and relatively easy.

Raspberry Leaves
This year for Summer Solstice I harvested raspberry leaves to celebrate. The leaves are every woman's best friend, especially women in the "childbearing years", but really all women can benefit from this plant as it is an excellent source of Vitamin C, E, A, and B complex. Also it contains calcium, iron, phosphorous, and potassium (Weed, 1985). This is the best tea to drink during pregnancy. It tones the uterus to ease labor and speed delivery...I drank raspberry tea throughout my pregnancy and was in labor for four hours...was it from the raspberry or something else I dont know, but if I ever sign myself up for that one again I'll be drinking the raspberry tea! Continuing to drink raspberry tea throughout the postpartum time continues to support uterine health and keeps the milk flowing. For mamas, it really is the best!

Harvesting the leaves is very easy. Ask the plant's permission first and if a yes answer is given, get to snippin'. Snip the leaves close to the top and toward the middle where they have not been made tough by the sun or eaten by bugs. The leaves come in threes and are connected by a stem which leads to the main branch of the plant. Snip the entire group of three and skip around as most raspberry patches are quite big. Give back to the plant in the form of saying thanks, then leave some of your hair, tobacco, or corn meal as a way of continuing the connection of energy between you and your medicine.

At the time of this writing, the raspberries were beginning to wane in the garden. Not something I want to think about, but it has been a good run this year! We went out to Sauvies Island a week ago and they were still looking gorgeous on the vine, but very plump and ripe. Get out there and pick before you have to wait a whole year to see them again!!