European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 19, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ream comes True by Nancy Shuling associated press Bill  s first Groat big Beautiful Raspberry summer has come to in end he has never been so Happy or so Sadas often happens up there around i yme the thermometer had pronounced summer Over in new Hampshire Well ahead of the Calendar As a Rush of cold air from Canada arrived at the Hillside where Lacey s first crop had ripened weeks before to a dewy Ruby red. There Are cold. Clear Days and colder nights with scattered frosts. Pumpkins Are Blooming in the Fields. Bill Lacey celebrated his 60th birthday. And summer has Long since slipped into october. I certainly can t ask for sympathy. Or pity. I had a wonderful  says Lacey. A balding Stocky Man whose Rosy face has a Lollipop roundness. But i be had a period of several Days in which i did t feel like doing much of anything. I think it s because the dream has been lived  the dream was about raspberries. Growing them. Picking them. And especially eating them. It was about finally having enough raspberries. There s both a sweetness and a Tang to  Lacey says. I have always loved that dark taste that they  Lacey grew up outside Boston and tasted his first raspberries during summer vacations at his grandparents place in Pittsfield. Mass. The grown up Lacey spent 30 years in advertising. Got married and had Lour sons spent 2vi years in Germany and 18 More in Chicago. Retired at 55, he came Home to new England. That s when raspberries came up again. I always loved growing things. I never played Goll and i never listed. I raised vegetables " in the Spring of 1981, Lacey and his Wile Lound a red Brick farmhouse with a Field just  for Raspberry s open land with full Sun. A gent ii slope Lor Good air circulation and slight add soil tents Loose enough to Drain Well they moved in that june but were still n Long Way from ready to Plant. First you have to plow the soil and get it loosened then you need to Plant fast growing grasses that you him under and allow to decompose a Lew times to improve the soil then you have to flatten the ground afterwards " Lacey was ready to plow immediately. Then to remembered he had no plow. By the time he found someone to help he was already a season behind. Finally in september. I planted the first crop of grass. 1 bought a spreader and planted Winter Rye by hand. I Felt like Johnny Appleseed it came up a Bright Gem like Kelly  Over the next year. Lacey managed to get in the four crops of Rye he needed to prime the soil. In the fall of 82. He ordered 2.000 Raspberry plants. Because they Aren t supposed to Blossom that first year Lacey hoped to see his first crop in the Spring of 84. Alter lying dormant in cold storage All Winter Raspberry plants in the Spring sprout spindly yellow loaves and shoots. They re trying to grow. But you Don t wan them to until you get them in the ground this growing just tires them. So you try to put Thorn in As Early As you can. After the mud dries in  that Spring the rain continued through May. Lacey s land was a sea of mud that he could t navigate even in boots. I knew i had to plow the last grass crop under before i could even think of planting. And the Garden Supply place started calling and asking when i was picking up my  Lacey lost count of How Many times he got stuck in the mud. Finally in june he was ready to Plant. You have to Plant them individually. The Crown of Biff Tobey go he he first Opol his Lyme n.h., Raspberry porch. The Plant sits on a Knob of Earth the roots must b spread nil around. And you have to wafer each one t j make sure there Are no air pockets two thousand times this operation takes place. It was a Long arduous time by the third week in june All the plants were in the ground the Winter Fiat followed was an open one. With no Snow cover to protect the Bushes. Growing things at much happier with a Blanket of  Lacey says ii controls the moisture and keeps the ground from freezing  thai Spring the Bushes began to Blossom but the buds soon turned hard and fell Oil. Lacey could see japanese beetles and tarnished Plant bugs feasting on the leaves. The situation was especially devastating because during their first year in the ground Raspberry plants Are too tender to tolerate chemical pest and Weed control. There was another problem. Deer had thrashed and nibbled their Way through the Berry Patch. All in All a  says Lacey. He spent the summer on his hands and Knees weeding. It was a Job. But it was a Job i had asked or that s when i decided i m not going to be the funny City Guy who came and played at farming and gave up when it got  toward August. Lacey harvested the few berries i Bushes had produced about six quarts. Ii was har to enjoy them when he figured what they had Cost $87.52 per Berry. That fall. Lacey prepared As Best he could then said his prayers. The Winter that followed was perfect a Blanket of Snow protected the Bushes irom november to april even the Deer stayed away. Lacey opened his Raspberry Patch july 19. There were already a few cars waiting along the Roadside As he put on his Raspberry red hat and came outside to take the Chain Down in front of his driveway. In a Lew minutes we could look across the Pond and see about fifteen people out there picking in our Berry Patch. And suddenly it All seemed Worth every hoi. Grubby hour of pulling weeds on hands and Knees every frustrating Day spent flicking japanese beetles into the can of kerosene every reversal every frustration that had Ever come along " at the Peak of the season. Lacey s customers picked 90 pints a Day paying  a pint. He did t need to advertise. Somehow they found him. And they kept on Corning until the last berries had been picked on aug. F 9. The yield 902 v pints Lor a total of $1.383. Lacey picked too. He ate berries Stilt warm from the Sun. He pureed some and poured the Sweel sauce on a Ripe Honeydew Melon. He made tons of Jam when the last pickers drove of. Lacey looked up at the Hillside where his four year Elfort had finally borne fruit and he Lound himself inexplicably near tears. "1 got a big Lump in my Throat i really went into a spin i figured there d be a letdown tint i was t expecting this. I toll almost grief " he thinks the sadness May have to do with More than the time of year i did just turn  he ays thoughtfully maybe at this Lime in life. I am feeling a Little rueful about september " gut there s also this raspberries ire specie hard to find expensive but somehow Worth whatever it  to get them people Yho love them will go where the Are and it really mailers it them what you it Inlo it. All that work " come  Spring. I Acey will be Back in his Berry . Planting new Bushes and trimming old  meanwhile with the Bushes lying dormant and the first frosts of Winter settling Over the land he has plenty of time to think about it All his Lisl great big Beautiful Raspberry summer is Over. It brought both a sweetness and a Tang saturday october 19, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 13