When You Have Bugs, Make Jelly

Disha Haziran 05, 2022

We have had this raspberry patch for almost as long as we have lived in this house, 35 years. It has supplied us with luscious fruit which we have enjoyed eating fresh and freezing for winter eating.

But the last two years, our berries have come under attack, and the result is a tiny white worm that ruins the fruit, turning it to mush. Last year I was able to harvest some berries before the worms took over. We tried to research what the pest might be, but never really found the answer.

Now, this year, even after spraying, the infestation is worse than ever, and we were only able to get a few pickings before the worms showed up. We have discovered that the culprit is Dropophila suzukii, and Asian vinegar fly. A kind of fruit fly, this little critter attacks fresh, ripe fruit, pierces the skin of the fruit with it's ovipositor and lays eggs, which quickly hatch into tiny larva. It is a serious economic threat to the soft fruit industry, having shown up here on the west coast in 2008.

Well, some of the berries are still good, but it's hard to tell which are wormy and which are not, so I have picked what I could, and last week I juiced the berries, strained the juice carefully through cheese cloth, and made raspberry syrup.

Yesterday, I picked about three quarts, smashed them and extracted the juice, again carefully straining it through cheese cloth, and made jelly.

I had to scrounge to find jelly jars. I used to be more of a Domestic Goddess than I am now, and I had jars, and made jelly and jam, but I gave most of my supplies to my sister, who carries on with the canning. I don't. I did have the lids, surprisingly.

We don't eat much jelly, but I'll give it to the kids, and save some for the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that they sometimes require when they are here.

In other domestic goddess news, Tom and I finished the hedge pruning this morning. Hallelujah!

Tom bought some organic spray for the raspberries, and we'll see if we can control the pests.

We're eating zucchini, basil and lettuce from our garden.

The dahlias are blooming and I'm making bouquets for the house.

And we're spending a lot of time in the yard. We have an Open Garden this coming Saturday, so everything has to be ship shape. That means re-cutting the edges, weeding, cutting back perennials that have finished, and generally primping and grooming. The mornings will be busy, as the temps heat up again and the afternoons will be too warm to work in the sun.