We hope everyone will come out to our next delicious Pathfinder
Produce fresh fruits and vegetable market at the Village Commons, this
Thursday, July 16, from 1 to 5 p.m. We offer a tremendous variety of
produce, so you can try items that may be new to you, or you can try some of
your family’s favorites in new and exciting ways.
****
This
weekend I noticed that many wild raspberry plants we have around our fields and
pathways are starting to produce berries, which are another delightful taste of
summer. As a kid, my siblings and my older cousins would at times go find a
patch of red raspberries or black caps for a day’s fun of picking (and
eating). These would be days full of mosquito bites and bramble scratches
(which required wearing long pants and long sleeves), but the fulfilled promise
of tangy berries was always worth the temporary discomfort.
According
to Wikipedia, raspberries are the
edible fruits of the plant genus Rubus, a member of the rose family (I
guess the common thread is the thorns and tough stems). The most-widely
grown commercial cultivars are from crosses between the R. idaeus
and R. strigosus varieties. Of course, growers also market
black raspberries, R. occidentalis, and berries of other
colors – purple and blue – are now becoming popular.
As
is evident from stalking raspberries in the wild, the plants require well-drained
soil, with ample sun and water to grow well. The plants throw out runners
and can take over untended sections of banks, roadways or along edges of
meadows; birds are another vehicle through which seeds are distributed.
If you are interested in growing a crop of raspberries from cultivated plants,
the National Arbor Foundation offers some advice on how to manage your berry
plants.
Raspberries,
along with other berries, have been popular in the news for several years,
given their high concentration of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
compounds. According to the World’s Healthiest
Food’s website,
raspberries are rich in a substance called rheosmin (aka, raspberry ketone),
which is thought by researchers to increase enzyme activity, oxygen
consumption, and heat production in certain fat cells, and can help decrease
the risks of obesity and improve liver health. (Think of it as adding
higher octane gas to your tank … it makes for a more efficient and complete
combustion of fuel.).
WHF
also touts another substance in raspberries, tiliroside, which researchers
believe activates a hormone called adiponectin that is produced by fat cells.
People with type 2 diabetes don’t produce enough adiponectin, which contributes
to regulation problems of sugars and fats in the bloodstream. Through
eating fiber-rich raspberries, patients increase their intake of tiliroside,
and researchers think this may improve blood chemistry levels and contribute to
better health.
One
caution: If you have had a history of gall bladder or urinary tract issues, you
may wish to go easy on raspberries (especially the black ones), as they do have
a relatively high amount of oxalates that can result in reducing calcium
absorption in the body. Lower calcium absorption can lead to kidney
stones; see this advice from the National
Kidney Foundation about how to avoid these painful occurrences.
Next
week, we’ll look at some of the more flavorful uses of raspberries, and try to
share some interesting taste combinations.
Until
next time, enjoy those fresh summer flavors!
Lori
