My mother and I used to love to go blackberry picking. We knew a huge patch where you could stand in one spot and pick enough for a pie. Sadly, it has been developed and the blackberries are gone. Sob. via
So sad that the blackberry patch is gone, but the memories are priceless! We planted some blackberry canes quite a few years ago, and they are thornless, good producers. The only problem is the seeds are larger than those of the wild blackberries of my childhood. When I make jam, I actually put them through a food mill to remove the seeds. Lots of work, but worth it! Our berries are beginning to turn color, but I'm guessing they won't ripen for a couple weeks.
I love blackberry pie. (In fact, I love all pie!) I have some very persistent blackberry bushes growing along my backyard side fence. For decades we have tried to get rid of them, as they can be very invasive, but to no avail. They blackberries never seem to get big, sweet and juicy enough to taste good, but maybe that's because the wildlife gets to them first!
Pam -- I'm sure your blackberry jam is delicious and the extra step with the food mill doesn't seem like a lot of work when you are eating it on hot buttered toast on a cold winter's day. How nice to have your own thornless bushes! xo, Rosemary
lisa, You have to get up very early to beat the wild creatures eating your wild blackberries. Just think of them as free bird food and enjoy them since it seems your cutting them back isn't working. I have learned to embrace the weeds I cannot get rid of. xo, Rosemary
I think that removing Blackberry bushes is a really stupid thing to do. Right up there with getting rid of apple trees or cherry trees etc. Once I lived in a house that had an apple tree, cherry tree, pear tree and grape vine in the yard. I ate one pear every day during August every year we were there. No one else even noticed them.
jane -- Builders are famous for clear cutting everything to make their job easier. Thankfully, many towns are issuing huge fines for doing so. I once lived in a house with a fig tree and it was heavenly in the summer. Your house with all of those fruit trees plus a grape vine must have been a great part of your childhood. I can't remember the last time I saw an apple tree since my friend who had an orchard moved away. I used to pick the best old fashioned ugly apples there that were the best I've ever eaten. Times have changed and fruit trees seem to have lost their popularity. Boo Hoo. xo, Rosemary
I once had a fig tree that produced the most delicious pale figs with rosy interior. The fruit was huge and sweet, best eaten straight from the tree. I never did anything to that fig tree, yet it continued to produce heavily and consistently every year. The birds ate from the top, I from the bottom.
About two months after I sold the house, I returned to ask the new owners if they would allow me to take a couple of cuttings from the unusually prolific tree. The new owner said, "Oh, we cut that tree down! It attracted birds and made a mess."
Of course it was his to cut down, but there are no words to describe the loss I felt, and the incredulity at the sheer destruction of goodness and bounty. Fifty years later now, and it still serves as a metaphor to me of heartless indifference.
sandy lawrence -- That fig tree story is truly heartbreaking. Yes, fruit trees attract bees and birds and deer when the fruit falls to the ground and nobody picks them up. It is a lesson learned to dig up everything you love before moving because you never know what will happen after new owners move in. You can't go home again. xo, Rosemary
Rosemary I always love hearing stories about your mother. I can just see the two of you picking those berries. I hope you can find another patch of them somewhere the no one else knows about.
11 comments:
What a beautiful photo! xo
So sad that the blackberry patch is gone, but the memories are priceless! We planted some blackberry canes quite a few years ago, and they are thornless, good producers. The only problem is the seeds are larger than those of the wild blackberries of my childhood. When I make jam, I actually put them through a food mill to remove the seeds. Lots of work, but worth it! Our berries are beginning to turn color, but I'm guessing they won't ripen for a couple weeks.
I love blackberry pie. (In fact, I love all pie!) I have some very persistent blackberry bushes growing along my backyard side fence. For decades we have tried to get rid of them, as they can be very invasive, but to no avail. They blackberries never seem to get big, sweet and juicy enough to taste good, but maybe that's because the wildlife gets to them first!
annette, I thought the photo was lovely too.
xo, Rosemary
Pam -- I'm sure your blackberry jam is delicious and the extra step with the food mill doesn't seem like a lot of work when you are eating it on hot buttered toast on a cold winter's day. How nice to have your own thornless bushes!
xo, Rosemary
lisa, You have to get up very early to beat the wild creatures eating your wild blackberries. Just think of them as free bird food and enjoy them since it seems your cutting them back isn't working. I have learned to embrace the weeds I cannot get rid of.
xo, Rosemary
I think that removing Blackberry bushes is a really stupid thing to do. Right up there with getting rid of apple trees or cherry trees etc. Once I lived in a house that had an apple tree, cherry tree, pear tree and grape vine in the yard. I ate one pear every day during August every year we were there. No one else even noticed them.
jane -- Builders are famous for clear cutting everything to make their job easier. Thankfully, many towns are issuing huge fines for doing so. I once lived in a house with a fig tree and it was heavenly in the summer. Your house with all of those fruit trees plus a grape vine must have been a great part of your childhood. I can't remember the last time I saw an apple tree since my friend who had an orchard moved away. I used to pick the best old fashioned ugly apples there that were the best I've ever eaten. Times have changed and fruit trees seem to have lost their popularity. Boo Hoo.
xo, Rosemary
I once had a fig tree that produced the most delicious pale figs with rosy interior. The fruit was huge and sweet, best eaten straight from the tree. I never did anything to that fig tree, yet it continued to produce heavily and consistently every year. The birds ate from the top, I from the bottom.
About two months after I sold the house, I returned to ask the new owners if they would allow me to take a couple of cuttings from the unusually prolific tree. The new owner said, "Oh, we cut that tree down! It attracted birds and made a mess."
Of course it was his to cut down, but there are no words to describe the loss I felt, and the incredulity at the sheer destruction of goodness and bounty. Fifty years later now, and it still serves as a metaphor to me of heartless indifference.
sandy lawrence -- That fig tree story is truly heartbreaking. Yes, fruit trees attract bees and birds and deer when the fruit falls to the ground and nobody picks them up. It is a lesson learned to dig up everything you love before moving because you never know what will happen after new owners move in. You can't go home again.
xo, Rosemary
Rosemary I always love hearing stories about your mother. I can just see the two of you picking those berries. I hope you can find another patch of them somewhere the no one else knows about.
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