Raspberries

The hills overlooking Lake Chapala and nearby are dotted with greenhouses made of a white fabric supported by metal arched frames.  From our house we can see across the lake to these large patches of white.  Inside are a variety of berries:  raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and cranberries.  The soil and climate here are ideal for berry growing, and we arrived just in time for the 8 month harvesting season from October to May.

With a little research, I learned the history of the berries in this area:

Many of you north of the border purchase small pristine plastic boxes of red raspberries in your local grocery stores.  One of the most respected US berry-growing companies came to Lakeside 10 or 15 years ago to experiment with a new crop at Lake Chapala...raspberries.  

Neat rectangular fields near Jocotepec were planted with raspberry roots that had been in cold storage to simulate a winter dormant season.  To protect the growing canes, they covered each field with plastic fastened to arched supports.  

The experimental fields, irrigated with clean water, were a huge success; the company planted more raspberry roots, and then blackberry and strawberry plants until white plastic Quonset huts popped up like dandelions around the west end of the lake.  This area is now one of the berry-growing industry's important micro-climate; top quality berries are picked and exported year-round for the tables of US consumers.  

The other day we drove around the west end of Lake Chapala through the town of Jocotepec (about 10 km west of us), and then along the south shore where the berry farms are prolific.  We stopped to see the production up close.

The workers had just hung up their buckets and were heading home when we stopped.  Yes...they all got into this small pickup truck.  I think I counted 13 men.  

Crates and boxes were stacked nearby, ready to ship the raspberries to the popular North American market.  You may recognize the Driscoll's label.  It is one of the largest producers in this area, but there are also many others.  

Of course we stopped at one of the many fruit stands to replenish our supply at home.  I always have fresh raspberries in the fridge but I still marvel at their abundance and low cost.  The photo above is a 125 gram container, but on the street here they are sold in larger plastic containers (about 4x more) which cost less than a dollar!

Buen Provecho!  - Bon Appetit!