A Summer Fruit
Black caps, black cap raspberry, thimble berry and scotch cap
are all associated with nature’s
summer berry, as most of us
know as the black raspberry.
Yes, they grow wild and they are
very good to say the least. We have a
lot of these wild berries growing on our
property and you just might find some
on yours. I recently found a commercial
grower over on county road 35 over by
Middlebury, Indiana, if you choose to
pick some yourself. You can find these
berries in the wild usually growing along
the thickets of the woods. They might be
the result of a bird planting them there.
Think the process through very carefully
on this concept. How did a bird plant
such a living thing that has leaves, roots,
and bears fruit?
The primary picking season is
typically, at the end of June to mid July.
However, with the lack of much rain they
are not as plentiful this year. Most would
agree that they are a welcome tasty summer fruit.
Black raspberries are native to North
America. The berry weighs about 1 to 2
grams. Picture the berry about the size of
your pinky tip and just about that shape
as well.
Extremely dark pigment allows black
raspberries to be used as a coloring agent
and or dye. In fact, the USDA stamp on
meat was made from black raspberry dye
for many years.
Spotlight on
by David Lane
Advanced Indiana
Master Naturalist
As a health benefit, these berries are
high in antioxidant levels. Consumi