Blueberries might be a distant memory now that October is at our doorstep, but local fall raspberries are going strong. Technically, raspberries, along with blackberries, are “caneberries,” not berries. Unlike berries, caneberries grow on woody canes. But there’s more to the difference, and that involves coming to terms with the fact that fruits are the ripened reproductive structures (ovaries) of a flower.
According to the Washington Red Raspberry Commission, berries come from a single ovary, while raspberries and other caneberries come from a single flower with 50 to 150 ovaries. Each ovary makes a small “drupelet,” and the drupelets cluster together to form the fruit.
Raspberries are soft and fragile, and are typically harvested by hand unless they’re going to be made into jam or other products. That’s why they typically cost more than their single-ovaried relatives. But that softness combined with their unique sweet-tart flavor makes them a treat worth the price. Just don’t think about all those ovaries.
www.carlsonorchards.com
Pick-your-own McIntosh, Cortland, Gala, Macoun, Golden Delicious, Northern Spy, and Empire apples (check Facebook daily for other varieties); cut-your-own sunflowers and zinnias. Available in the store are McIntosh, Cortland, Ginger Gold, Gala, Gravenstein, and Honeycrisp apples; cut flowers; locally grown corn, tomatoes, and winter squash, as well as pumpkins and chrysanthemums.
Store is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily; pick-your-own is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
www.doeorchards.com
Pick-your-own Honeycrisp, Macoun, McIntosh, Golden Supreme, Cortland, Ruby Mac, Fuji, Jonagold, and Empire apples. Many of those varieties are available on the stand, along with pumpkins, gourds, and cider.
Stand and pick-your-own hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
www.goodspiritsfarm.com
At the self-service farmstand this week: Organically grown raspberries, blackberries, zucchini, pattypan and crookneck squash, kale, collards, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, and butternut and honeynut squash. Also available at the stand are the farm’s own honey, berry jams (including raspberry, peach, blueberry, and blackberry), dahlia bouquets, lavender hand cream, and eggs from Harvard’s Goose and Hen farm and Chip-In Farm in Bedford.
Stand is open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
www.oldfrogpondfarm.com
Pick-your-own organic apples Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pick-your-own raspberries Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. At the self-service farmstand on the porch: certified organic fruit and vegetables, including bagged apples, fresh-pressed unpasteurized apple cider, cherry tomatoes, leeks, garlic, basil, flowers, an assortment of jams made with their own fruit, and their own herbal teas.
Stand is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.
www.westwardorchards.com
Pick-your-own McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, Gala, Empire, Red Delicious, and Golden Delicious apples. Pick-your-own pumpkins with wagon rides to the pumpkin patch on weekends. Available in the store: Westward’s McIntosh, Cortland, Macoun, Honeycrisp, Gala, Ginger Gold, Golden Delicious, Jonaprince, Baldwin, Red Jonathan, and Roxbury Russet apples; mixed varieties of pears, mixed plums, quince, regular, heirloom, and cherry tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, cauliflower, corn, kale, broccoli, carrots, eggplant, summer squash, zucchini, peppers, beets, collard greens, cabbage, leeks, potatoes, shallots, and mixed herbs. Pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks are also available.
Store is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily; pick-your-own apples from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily; pick-your-own pumpkins on weekends only, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
—Compiled by Joan Eliyesil