Organic Raspberry Delice de framboise - Rubus idaeus

The Delice de framboise 'Rusilva' raspberry from Organic Agriculture is a recently bred non-perpetual variety that produces large, round, highly fragrant dark red fruits. It is a vigorous, productive, and early variety, with raspberries ready for harvest from mid-June onwards. Planting should be done from October to March in well-prepared and enriched garden soil that remains moist in summer.

To fully enjoy their flavour, raspberries should be consumed soon after picking, as they do not keep well. If you have a plentiful harvest, consider making coulis, sorbets, pies, or jams. You can also freeze them.

Production reaches its normal level in the third year after planting. A plant can produce fruit for around 10 years. There are two types of varieties: perpetual, which produce in autumn (generally from August to October) and then again in June the following year, and non-perpetual varieties, which have a plentiful harvest around June-July.

The Raspberry is a deciduous shrub with upright stems, forming a bush about 1.50 m (5ft) in all directions over time. The canes are biennial, with each one dying after fruiting. Every year, new, prickly suckers emerge from the roots. The Raspberry leaves are green on top, white-green and downy on the underside. The flowering is very attractive to bees. The small white flowers (1 to 2 cm (0 to 1in) in diameter) are grouped in small clusters of 10 to 12 in April-May. The fruits are made up of small agglomerated drupes, easy to detach when ripe.

The Raspberry belongs to the Rosaceae family, along with strawberries, blackberries, and wild roses. The wild raspberry is native to Europe and temperate Asia, where it grows in cool climates alongside elderberry, beech, or mountain ash, especially in mountainous undergrowth but also in plains.