Rubus occidentalis Origin: Saranac Improvement status: Wild Seeds per packet: ~25 BOTANICAL SAMPLE - NOT GERMINATION TESTED Life cycle: Perennial For those of us who grew up in their territory, few wild edible plants capture the taste of summer than the sweet little bundles of finger-staining joy of black raspberries. Whether you call them black caps, scotch caps, bear's eye blackberries, or something else entirely, black raspberries are simply the best. But you don't need to rely on wild plants, they're quite easy to grow yourself!While black raspberries have always been something of a niche crop for farmers, far more likely to be encountered by most people as a wild plant than at a market, in our neck of the woods — the Mid-Atlantic — black raspberries are an old-timey favorite for products from jams, jellies, and pies, to yogurts, milkshakes, and (especially) ice cream. Black raspberry ice cream with dark chocolate chunks is a particularly beloved flavor. They can even be found fresh at some farmers' markets, in the right season. From what we've been told, it's similarly beloved in parts of the Midwest, where they're more likely to be called "black caps."These seeds, care of the good folks at Sheffield's Seeds in Locke, NY, come from a wild population growing at Saranac Lake in New York's Adirondack Mountains, where EFN co-founder Nate Kleinman used to enjoy them as a child visiting his Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jerry's cabin near the lake.GROWING TIPS: Seeds are likely to benefit from 30-60 days cold-moist stratification, followed by planting in a moist medium and kept moist until sprouting. They might take a few months to sprout, and likely will not fruit until their second year at the earliest. Black raspberries like sunny locations with well-aerated soil (they want to send roots down at least a foot). We recommend separating seedings quite a bit so you can evaluate the best plants for future propagation. Without regular pruning, they will develop into a dense thicket.
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