Heritage Raspberry

Heritage Raspberry is a new breed of low-bush raspberry developed by the University of Minnesota’s fruit breeding program. It is a cross between the common highbush American raspberry, and the wild species known as Rubus idaeus var. strigosus, commonly called European Red Raspberry. Heritage Raspberry is just one of more than thirty low-bush varieties that have been developed in recent years for cultivation in our climate zone where the growing season averages about two months, from early July until mid-September. 

In the late 1980s, the Minnesota raspberry program began developing a new species of raspberry known as Rubus ideas var. strigosus (aka. European Red Raspberry) for cultivation in our climate zone where the growing season averages about two months, from early July until mid-September. This variety was selected from tens of thousands of seedlings produced by propagating the rare and endangered native wild raspberry Rubus idaeus (R. idaeus var.

What is Heritage Raspberry?

Minnesota’s first public release of a low-bush raspberry – Heritage Raspberry was released to the public in 2005. In fact, Heritage was the first new variety released by the University of Minnesota’s fruit breeding program since 1991 when Dakota Black (a cross between American and black raspberry), Jewel, and Ovation were introduced into Minnesota’s market. Heritage Raspberry was developed by Dr. A.G. Leach and his colleagues at the University of Minnesota’s Fruit Breeding Program – a part of the Department of Horticultural Science in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS).

Are heritage raspberries sweet?

Heritage raspberries are very sweet. Heritage Raspberry is a mid-season variety, so it is harvested in the early fall and is available for sale through our raspberry farmers’ cooperative by late fall.

What can you do with Heritage Raspberry?

1. Eat them fresh. Raspberries are very good fresh, plain or mixed with other berries, in cereal, in yogurt, on ice cream and pancakes.
2. Preserve them by freezing and canning. Some people prefer to freeze raspberries with a little sugar added (1/4 cup per quart). Others prefer to pack the freshly picked fruit into pint or half-pint canning jars along with a canning syrup (1 1/4 cups of sugar to 1 pint of berries).
3. Cook with them. Raspberries are a firm, juicy fruit good for canning, freezing and dehydrating. Freezing them whole makes it easy to add them to soups and stews, or to make sauces and jams. Dehydrating raspberries concentrates their flavor without losing any of their delicate texture.
4. Sustain them. There are several ways to give back to the farmers and growers that have helped make Heritage Raspberry, part of your diet. Join them in a raspberries, sugar and honey fundraiser, sell your raspberries at a farmers’ market, or donate some of your harvest to the farmers who grow and then preserve this variety for your enjoyment.

How To Take Care Of Heritage Raspberry?

1. Harvest Heritage Raspberry berries when they are ripe. Best flavor comes from berries that are fully red, but also at their sweetest.
2. Pick fruit in dry weather for the most flavorful results with no need for harvesting buckets or fruit-pickers.
3. Ripen raspberries on the vine to ensure a longer season of harvest and better quality fruit. Raspberries ripen at a rate of 1 to 2 days per inch in length.
4. Harvest Heritage Raspberry berries when they are fully red and sweet. Do not harvest berries that have any green or darker color on them. Harvest sunshine raspberries as soon as they turn red to improve flavor and shelf life. Raspberries should be harvested every 12 days, with the best flavor coming from berries harvested within 3 to 5 days of full ripeness. 
5. Store Heritage Raspberry berries in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Harvest when fully red and sweet, and avoid picking berries that are green. Do not harvest raspberries that are fully red, because they will continue to ripen after harvesting. Harvest all varieties at about the same size so you can pack them all into the same bucket or bowl of water, where they will continue to ripen until ready to harvest.

Benefits Of Heritage Raspberry?

1. Heritage Raspberry is vigorous and productive. 
2. Heritage Raspberry produces fruit of excellent flavor and sweetness. 
3. Heritage Raspberry has good shelf life after harvesting, because it is a low-bush raspberry that doesn’t require cold storage to maintain its quality. 
4. Heritage Raspberry has a higher level of phenols, the health-beneficial compounds that are found in red raspberries, than black raspberries or red raspberry hybrids. 
5. Heritage Raspberry is easily grown and harvested in Minnesota’s climate zone, where the growing season averages about two months. It is just one of more than 30 varieties of low-bush raspberries that have been developed for cultivation in our climate zone. 
6. Heritage Raspberry was selected from tens of thousands of seedlings produced by propagating the rare and endangered native raspberry Rubus idaeus var. strigosus (aka. European Red Raspberry).