Raspberries are generally classified as summer bearing (one major crop in early to mid summer) or everbearing (one crop at the top of canes in the fall and a larger crop lower on the canes the following early summer.) So, in order to grow berries only on 1-year-old (2nd season)  canes, you will be choosing your varieties from  the summer bearing group. Fitting in your vacation plans with this group is, however, a bit more complicated. The earliest maturing varieties , considered as spring bearing, ripen in mid June to early July. Given the Rogue Valley's tendency to wet, cool springs, this range in our area probably means ripeness closer to the July date. As for varieties, there are 3 summer bearers that are "early"  you might consider: "Willamette" is widely grown, has good flavor, and ripens mid June to early July. "Latham" is a well established variety with the same schedule . "Nova" is a Canadian introduction which is sometimes advertised as being extremely weather tolerant. Keep in mind that raspberries need at least 2 to 3 feet between plants in a row, and 8 to 10 feet between rows. How this will work with your raised beds may be another issue you need to consider. Many vigorous growers top out at 6 to 8 feet tall, and should be trellised to a wire between posts. An excellent description of more than a dozen summer varieties can be found at weeksberry.com. Weeks Nursery in Keizer, OR is a berry vine producer and offers a wide selection of all kinds of berry plants. Visit their website and search under "Resources" for the detailed info on raspberries, including photos and descriptions. For cultural tips, visit extension.oregonstate.edu/publications. The  University of  California Gardenweb site at cagardenweb.ucanr.edu also provides helpful information on raspberries. If you have additional questions, we will be happy to help! Thanks for using Ask an Expert.

Thank you for the advice on raspberries.  Given i know it will take a few years to get the raspberry patch up to full production, i want to make sure i do it right the first time! 

On a related note, we also are planning on planting a couple blueberry bushes.  Thoughts on those - best varieties for southern Oregon, etc.? I have heard that i would likely need to adjust the acidity of the soil if i was to just plant them in the ground.  From what i read, i hear advice on the subject that includes a couple year period of adjusting the soil until you get to the right PH.  Given that i also plan on putting the blueberry bushes in a raised bed, i am hoping i can fill the bed with material that will have the right PH to begin with - any advice on how to do that would be appreciated?

Thanks again,
Blake

Glad we could be of help. You might be surprised by the production of those  raspberries. A healthy plant will yield a lot, even in its first fruiting season. Remember that you will be cutting off this cane once it has fruited and leaving new canes which will sprout from the root. (Some varieties fruit at the top the first fall after they are planted; the lower part then fruits in the following spring.) As for the blueberries: yes, they need soil as acid as  a cup of coffee, about 5.5 to 5.0 on the pH scale. Our normal soils in the valley range from 6.0 to 7.0, with almost no alkalinity except for Coker Butte area. While some composts can aid in acidifying soil, it is not a very quick process nor are the results always satisfactory.  Sulfur, in the form of sulfates, is the agent of choice for acidifying soils. Equip yourself with a pH meter (around $12) or a test kit (about $8) and follow the directions so you know what level you are starting from.  Calculate how many points you need to lower pH to the desired acidity. Using aluminum sulfate at the rate of one-half pound  per hundred square feet will lower pH in loamy soil  about one-half point. You should not add more than 1/2 pound per 100 square feet at any one time. Then, wait 2 to 3 months and test the soil again.  It may take  a couple of years before you reach the desired levels.So, our suggestion is to grow blueberries (especially if you only want a couple of plants) in containers that you can move from shade to sun as needed. You can fill the containers with potting mixes suitable for rhododendrons or camellias which will give you a good start toward the necessary acidity. Blueberries need excellent drainage, so do not use garden "dirt".  "Sunshine Blue" is a recent release which is less finicky about acidity than other varieties and produces a medium sized berry with good flavor. Other varieties that do well in pots are  the "North---" series, such as Northsky. These are half-high bushes (1 1/2 to 3 feet tall). A list of varieties can be found in Extension publication EC1308, with excellent growing instructions available in EC 1304. Access both at extension.oregonstate.edu/publications. Search by number or topic, "Blueberries". Again, Weeksberry.com has pictures. Hope this helps!

I have a follow up question related to my original raspberry question from a few years back.  I decided to go with the Willamette variety and planted them in the spring of 2015 in the raised beds i had prepared.  The plants seemed to do fine and this year - now that the plants are more established - the canes filled up the raised beds.  However, the new canes that grew this year are flowering and bearing fruit?  Many of the flowers didn't develop into fruit and those that did tended to be on the small side, but i am at a loss as to why this variety would bear fruit on first year canes?  I am also at a loss as to what to do as i assume i will get no fruit from canes next year that fruited this summer?  Any advice would be appreciated.

Blake

Sorry for a misunderstanding that has marred your experience with your raspberries. They sound like they are doing what they  are designed to do, but you appear to have overlooked the comment that "you will be cutting off" the canes that have fruited .This essential pruning is performed when the plant loses its leaves in late fall and is dormant. Once a summer-bearing raspberry cane has fruited, that's it for that cane. (Everbearers require a different technique, but your Willamette berries follow the one-season of fruiting only.)The crown of the plant will  put up new canes in the fall or early spring, that will fruit that summer. When you prune back the canes, be careful to prune out only the ones that have fruited. Your assumption that the canes that blossomed will not produce next summer is correct We strongly encourage you to read and perhaps print (download is free) EC 1306, Growing Raspberries in Your Home Garden. You find it at extension.oregonstate.edu/publications.. To our knowledge, there is no " forever" bearing  red raspberry cultivar in which the same canes produce year after year. It is very important to follow instructions forpruning, fertilizer, water, etc. to keep the crown of the plant healthy--that is the "permanent" part of the plant.Once your patch gets into the right rhythm, you can enjoy those berries!

An added thought regarding small berry production of your plants: it generally takes 2 to 3 years before the crown is mature enough to support the canes AND produce large berries. Get the essential pruning done this fall, fertilize your berries in early spring, and you will probably be harvesting good sized berries hext June or early July!

Thanks for the response.  However, what is still causing me to scratch my head is why - if Willamette raspberries are a summer variety - am i seeing fruit on the canes that only sprouted this spring?  Given i planted a summer variety, shouldn't these canes only bear fruit in their second year?  I can certainly cut back all the canes that are currently producing fruit once the plants go dormant, but that will leave me with very few canes come spring?

Blake

Perhaps we have to quit using the term "second year canes"--their appropriate name is floricane. Both summer and everbearing raspberries produce fruit on floricanes.  Primocane is the name given to the new growth that comes up , hopefully each year, that will become a floricane in its second season (the total "life" of a cane is a little more than one year( growth, fruit, death). Only fall-bearing raspberries produce fruit the first season on the tip of the primocanes,  Perhaps the following will help you; it is from EC 1306 from OSU Extension:
"All raspberry plants are perennial; the roots live for several years. The canes are biennial, they grow one year (primocanes) and produce fruit the following year (floricanes). The floricanes die after they have fruited. Flower bud formation begins at the tip of primocanes about July, when grow slows, and proceeds down towards the base of the cane. New canes are produced each year from the roots or at the base of old canes.the floricanes need to be removed each year after harvest, but the new primocanes, which will fruit the following year, need to be thinned and trained...."
I think it is highly posssible that you have lost track of which canes came up this spring and which came up last year, as it doesn't seem reasonable that this year's new canes would have flowered and fruited. There are some new varieites of blackberries which do fruit on primocanes, but that is a different subject!