Church View Farm
A Sustainable Artisan Farm
Small Fruit Crops
Red Raspberries and Blackberries are among our signature crops. To the best of our knowledge we are the only red raspberry growers on a commercial scale in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Our goal is to provide fresh high quality berries at prices below grocery store prices which are primarily tasteless raspberries picked unripe and imported from South America. We also grow yellow/golden raspberries. These should not be confused with the smaller or wild black raspberries. There is less of a demand for blackberries because most people often confuse them with the smaller wild growing black raspberries. But taste will dispel you of this notion. Commerical raspberries are about 5x the size of a wild growing berry and are much better tasting and much sweeter. We'll give you a sample so you can taste the difference. Raspberries can be frozen for later use but should not be smashed together like frozen strawberries which are generally an awful mushy mess when thawed. Instead, raspberries should be frozen individually on a flat pan or else in the clear plastic containers. We sell in container sizes of half pint, pint, and quart. Call for availability and seasonal pricing; but we have numerous varieties which mature at different times, and generally they are available from late June until the first frost in October. Much like strawberries, larger berries are more visually impressive, but the smaller berries are usually more flavorful. So the larger berries are often used for gourmet desserts, and the smaller berries are used for sauces and other recipes. Speaking of recipes, you'll find more than you'll ever need if you Google "raspberry recipes" or if you go directly to sites such as www.raspberryworld.com. Lastly, we are members of the North American Bramble Growers Association. You can find their web site at www.raspberryblackberry.com and there are recipes there also. The bramble crops are laid out in rows with grassed aisleways between them. This helps keep our fields neat and clean. In Europe and England, many of the hedgerows you may have seen are actually bramble crop rows, ie blackberries, raspberries, currants, etc. These produce small fruit, serve as field fences when stone or wood fencing isn't available, and shelter small game such as rabbits and game birds such as quail or grouse. Thus, the berry hedgerows provide a real multipurpose solution and application. 
