Although they haven’t been around long, the freebie raspberry plants we added to the yard earlier this summer have been cranking out a pretty bountiful and sweet harvest recently!  We noticed a large batch of berries form on several of the plants about a month ago and patiently waited for them to fully ripen.

The first harvest (seen below) was fairly small, but within a few days another batch was ready (seen above).  While a few were still a little tart, the majority were sweet and juicy – perfect for a yummy, easy to eat breakfast during my morning commute the next day.

During the holiday weekend I picked a third batch that was twice the size of the first two!  Those were also promptly eaten for breakfast on my morning drive to work yesterday.  And there’s still more berries waiting to ripen on the bushes.  Hopefully the cold weather stays away long enough for them all to come in fully so we can enjoy a 4th or maybe even 5th harvest.

What’s even more impressive is that all of these came from just a handful of bushes.  Most of the bushes are still establishing themselves and focusing on lush leaf growth rather than berry production, so next year we should have a plethora of berries when those start adding to the harvest.  Guess I better start saving raspberry everything recipes now!