7.05.2015

roadside berry bliss




while she was at camp the other day, papa and I picked seven pounds of blackberries along the side of the road.  it was hilly.  and thorny.  buggy.  and a bit poison ivy-y.  and a whole lot of good, too.

when papa and Claire were out walking the farm school dog to the creek, I mashed 8 cups of them into jam while listening to Rising Appalachia.  mash, stir, heat, pour.



one of the jars exploded- oh those tattler lids.  I like the idea of them, but I think I'm going back to the regular old metal lids.  there's something about hearing that satisfying 'pop'! after taking them out of the water bath.  and the weck jars- I have trouble telling if those little rubber tabs are pointed down enough.  they all seem sealed, but that little pop is always my proof that all is well.

a couple days later I went back and picked by myself.  it was drizzling and I wasn't dressed appropriately for brambly hillside berry picking.  short sleeves and chacos.  but still.  the train went by and it was pleasant, hearing it while I picked in the rain.  I paused and thought "I'll remember this summer moment".  I came away with another five pounds.  not too shabby.




in the last week there have been a gallon of berries frozen, many eaten by the handful or mixed in with yogurt, two peach/blackberry crisps baked, and a rather large and rather tasty jar of blackberry sangria mixed together for a little gathering we had on the fourth to say farewell to a dear friend who will be away for several weeks.  turns out there are worse things to have leftovers of than blackberry sangria.  I may have brought a couple little half pint jars out to a friend's place today for us to enjoy after Claire's riding lesson.

ah, summer.  delicious.

20 comments:

  1. When we went to Maine last summer we were driving out of a blueberry u-pick it farm and in the ditch along the dirt road I saw blackberries. It was pouring rain but I pulled the car over got out in the middle of the storm jumped into the ditch with chacos too and picked as many blackberries as my hands could hold then scrambled out of the ditch and got into my car soaking wet. I then gave each member of my family a blackberry and then ate the rest myself. Best damn berries i've ever tasted! I think I will head up the mountain looking for the raspberries I know grow up there.

    I'm totally jealous of all those berries ya'll have there.

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    1. there's just something about those roadside, wild berries. I can't resist them, either!

      good luck hauling home a big basket of raspberries!

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  2. You can not beat the beautiful taste of summer harvest. Your preserves look wonderful.

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    1. oh yes, summer is indeed quite delicious, isn't it?
      thank you!

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  3. twelve pounds! incredible. steve took the kids picking in the neighborhood this weekend, but they're still not totally in. soon, though.
    i know you'll enjoy every last bite!

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    1. we certainly have been! and we drove past the patch today and thought 'hmmmmmm.. should we go back again??'

      no doubt once those patches are ripe in your neck of the woods you'll be knee deep in berries, too!

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  4. Picking berries from the side of the road or from ditch banks is something I have done as far back as I can remember, it is one of the joys of my life.
    You really harvested some pretty berries and I know they will be enjoyed in the cold winter months.

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    1. Tracey, I would love to pick berries in a ditch with you one day!!

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  5. Free foraged berries are awesome! We have several spots that we hit up on our daily walks around the neighborhood. Not cup fulls, but enough of a snack to make the little babe happy and for me to carry home to top off post-run pancakes.

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    1. agreed! I cannot resist a free, wild berry. snacking while walking around the neighborhood sounds perfect :)

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  6. That is a lot of berries! I love picking blackberries because they are fee and I did not have to grow them! And, we love jam. I need to get out to get some this week - they are just now ready here. I also am wary of the tattler lids (though I like them) and love to hear the pop of the metal lids to tell me they sealed.

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    1. it is especially nice this year since I mistakenly pruned our raspberries as though they were varieties that fruited on first year canes. but um, well.......... yeah. they fruit on second year canes. oops. (but oh the raspberries we'll have NEXT year!)

      I just haven't had great luck with the tattler lids. processing tomatoes last year, at least 3 or 4 jars opened or did weird things. and now that the ball lids are BPA-free.... I'm just going to mostly stick with those I think.

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  7. I'm lucky that the side of our dirt road has raspberries and I don't think the bears or birds know about them yet!! Love your images and your words today :)

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    1. yum! are they red or black raspberries?
      thank you, Karen~

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  8. Foraged berries are the best!!! We have just finished wild strawberry season, and we are watching the raspberries slowly ripen. Blackberries are flowering, but we won't be picking those around here until early September.

    Enjoy!

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    1. oh yes, the free, wild, foraged berries (free, wild, foraged anything, for that matter) are certainly wonderful and difficult, if not impossible, to resist!

      oh wild strawberries! they seem to be few and far between down here, but I fondly remember picking loads of them at my grandfather's place up in the Adirondacks. yum!

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  9. How wonderful to have such a bounty of berries!

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    1. I am very happy and grateful to be storing some away for colder days. (and of course, gobbling up plenty now, too)

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thanks for taking the time to read and comment~