We have lots of wild blackberry bushes in our region.
And right now, the berries are peaking.
We had a bit of rain in the last couple of days, the farthest remnant of Hurricane Hilary (and by the way, my parents are fine; the storm missed them entirely). The rain washed everything clean and plumped up the berries.
Needless to say, this fruit is an absolute bonanza for the wildlife. Last year I heard a commotion and looked out to see a bunch of pheasants in a bush, gobbling berries as fast as they could.
We snack on these fruits every time we take Darcy walking (he's also learned to pluck berries himself, though undoubtedly it's a thorny ordeal), and lately they've been so tasty that I decided to get a bowlful.
It took some care to navigate among the thorns...
...which snagged both clothing and skin.
But it took no time at all to fill a bowl.
It was mostly bug-free.
None of us really care for jam so I won't use the wild blackberries for that purpose. We'll simply enjoy them as the wonderful summer fruit that they are.
I am told that blackberries make fabulous BBQ sauce. If I can ever get enough (they don't grow well here), I plan on canning some up for ribs and chicken.
ReplyDeleteBlackberry Cobbler sister! Use the cup, cup, cup recipe. Cup of sugar, cup of flour ( I use biscuit mix) and a cup of milk ( I use half and half) makes the batter. Melt a stick of butter in an iron skillet, pour in your batter, and pour your fruit ( cooked down a little in more sugar so it's got a syrup) over the top. Bake in a medium oven until it's bubbling and the top is golden brown. Serve hot with ice cream on top. Lots of fruits make good cobblers with that batter. Peaches, apples, blueberries, pears, even a can of mixed fruit is good. The juice is very important to making it ooey, gooey deliciousness.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to put that I start this on top of the stove while the oven gets hot. The skillet is hot when you start adding to it, then pop it in the oven to finish. So not only the top gets brown in the oven, but the bottom does too from starting in the hot skillet.
DeleteIn N. Fl Blackberries ripen at Memorial Day and if you are not quick the animals, including my horses and dogs, will consume the lot. I prefer to freeze them and use them for cereals or what ever throughout the year. And all my plants are along the fence lines and throughout the fields with bunches of thorns. They are even thought of as a weed here as they are so prolific.
ReplyDeleteI remember picking blackberries and coming back covered with chiggers! We had to put on long sleeves, long pants, and socks and shoes in the heat of the summer. Mama made us tuck our pants in our socks, hold out our arms while she sprayed us with an old pump sprayer. But, we had not ticks on us after she did that. I take it you were not standing in a big bunch of blackberry bushes or you would have chiggers and ticks to deal with. Do you get chiggers where you live? Or is that just a Southern thing?
ReplyDeleteYes! Cobbler! Still slightly warm and covered with thich whipped cream. The single best loved dish of my childhood.
ReplyDeleteOur bushes in SW Idaho are coming to an end. We ate what we could and froze bags and bags of blackberries to process this winter into jams and syrups when we can't get outside and want to warm the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteMy blackberries are all dead. Drift from crop dusting killed them. I also lost a beehive and all of my elderberries.
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