Today we braved the rain, the wasps and thorns and nettles, even the occasional spider. We walked along muddy paths with trees dripping above, laughing at each other, faces damp inside our hoods. We searched for treasure, night dark, glistening among the green leaves.
And we found it.
Sweet and tart, nature’s bounty, tumbling from the hedgerows. So ripe that some were rotting on the brambles, left for birds and insects or trampled underfoot.
Does anyone pick blackberries any more?
Helen Glynn Jones 
YEP, then it’s, custard, jam making or baking into pies time 👍😃😄
Yes, jam, crumbles, pies and freezing what’s left so we can have them in the winter. Think I might go back next week and see if I can get another haul 🙂
The Birds may beat you to them Helen 😄😄😄
Ah well, they’re welcome to them. I certainly managed to pick loads today 🙂
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I made plumberry jam with blackberries a couple of weeks ago. Very tasty. But the best recipe is blackberry coulis. Add to vanilla ice cream and it’s just like raspberry ripple.
Ooh yes, I have some plums as well, I was going to make plumberry crumble with apples. But coulis sounds lovely as well, will have to look up my recipe for it 🙂
I haven’t been blackberry picking in such a long time. And now I have a craving for blackberry crumble…
Oh, well there’s loads out there – do you have somewhere near you where you can pick them? I love blackberry crumble too, especially with extra thick cream 🙂
Not that i c an think of off thw tip of my head but i will have to keep my eye out. Crumble and custard is my personal favorite.
And on a cold rainy day like this one… perfect.
Nice job! Good in jam. No we buy them in Sainsburys 😦
Sainsbury’s are nice too – not so many bugs 🙂
Yes, I do, Helen. But I always remmeber them not being ready for picking until at least early September.
We’ve already enjoyed several blackberry and apple pies with custard this August 🙂
Yes, they seem to have come in quite early – there were a lot that were already past it, then in other places there were still flowers and green berries. So hopefully there will be some for a little while longer at least, especially for those blackberry and apple pies, my apple trees are quite over loaded this year!
And the British Plums. I just love this time of year when they come into season. Victoria Plum jam is one of my favourites, but we’ve never been able to grow our very own plum tree. Maybe it’s time for another attempt?
Oh yes, I’ve made loads of plum jam already, and I’m going to add some to the fruit crumble I’m planning for today. I’ve never had a plum tree either – my grandmother had a huge one with loads of fruit on it each year – perhaps it’s time to try and grow my own as well.
Remind me to ask you for an invite to dinner if you’re serving that crumble with custard, Helen 🙂 I know it’s only breakfast time, but I can wait.
Well, I was going to get some cream but I can always make custard as well 🙂
Blackberry vinegar, blackberry crumble, hedgerow jelly. 😉 Is it that time of year already?
It seems to be – I was just saying to Hugh in the comments that some of the fruit was past it already – they seem to have come in early this year. Still, nice to have all theses delicious things whenever we can get them 🙂
We picked damsons and sloes today. Sloes were surprisingly sweet. Haven’t noticed blackberries yet – must have a better look!
Oh yes, there were loads of sloes where we were too, though I’m never quite sure what to do with them. Quite a lot of elderberries too, and beech nuts.
Sloe gin, sloe vodka and after draining off the alcohol you can use them for jam or dip them in chocolate. I usually add them to hedgerow jam. Also add them even if they haven’t been soaked.
Oh, thank you – I’ll have to give that a try 🙂
Oh you bet; tonnes of the things to make blackberry and apple crumbles and pies…. they’re huge up along the Suffolk coast, possibly due to the proximity to the nuclear power station at Sizewell…
As long as they don’t glow in the dark, Geoff, I think they’ll be all right 🙂
Glow in the dark. Ooooooooooo love that!
It would make for an interesting pie, that’s for sure!
Picking Strawberries out if my garden on my return home! And blue berries are budding up! I do miss the berry hunts I wound have in BC though especially on Quadra as by Autumn they were black berries with a salty crust on the ocean shores!
Oh, I love the sound of that, Michelle. We are heading over to BC in October, but I think they’ll be all gone by then. Blueberries are another favourite, will maybe have to look at getting a bush for the garden. Bet you have loads in that big lot of yours 🙂
Ours aren’t ripe yet! Probably because we’ve had so little sun. Wonder how thats affecting the birds this year…
Yes, I do wonder about that. And it was interesting yesterday, parts of the hedgerow were just groaning with ripe berries, whereas others still had flowers and green berries, so I think the season will continue for a while yet. I live in hope of getting some sunshine again soon 🙂
You and me both! Kids gone back to school today here so bound to get some sunshine now! 😀
Oh yes, it’s always the way. We have a week left so of course it’s pouring rain again – I’m expecting to be in shorts next week though!
Wish I could atach a pic to this comment to show you how the sun is shining already this morning lol!
Oh, that’s hilarious! 😀
I used to when we had a bush in our backyard. A bunch grow on trails near the freeway where I live now but I’d have to go down there alone, I need someone to show me how to get there and then watch out for spiderwebs and bees. 🙂
Sounds super fun though!
We have a bush in our back garden too though it’s quite small, not the pickings we get in the hedgerows. I hope you get the chance to go out picking berries with someone before the season ends, it was fun yesterday despite the rain.
Haven’t since I was a kid – but what a lovely idea I will have to with atlas now! 😊
Yes, it’s a lovely thing to do with your own child – I remember going when I was a kid and it’s a lovely chain of memory to continue along. And there’s loads around here, I imagine there must be quite a lot where you are too?
I dont actually know but im going to find out thanks to you 😀 😀
Excellent, let me know how you get on 🙂
It reminds me of when childhood because they grow everywhere in Tasmania. Every year, the man over our back fence would give a bucketful to my mother and she’d bake blackberry pies, and give one to him. It was such a treat! I’m glad you still do that.
Oh yes, I love blackberry pie – in fact, I’ve just made a blackberry, plum and apple crumble for dessert tonight, while the rest have gone in the freezer for later. And we also had some growing near us on the Mornington Peninsula, though only in a few spots and certainly not the profusion we see over here.
We had some this morning with our cereal–and a friend just fed us some of the blackberry and apple crumble she’d made. So around here? Yes.
Sounds lovely, Ellen. I also made crumble last night – in fact, I’ve used about half the ones we picked already, so am going out to get another batch this week before they’re all gone 🙂
I just got back from walking the dog and couldn’t resist picking a few more. I thought about your question as I picked. How people can walk past and not pick them baffles me.
Me too – expecially when you go into Tesco or Sainsburys and see a punnet of about 20 berries for £2!
I will go as far as admitting that the ones in the supermarket as bigger and juicier.
True 🙂 Though I feel more satisfaction in eating the ones I picked myself.
Truly.