My blackberries are beginning to ripen, and I have been snacking on them for a few days. But now they are beginning to come on heavily. The only problem is that the biggest and ripest and juiciest ones are in the middle of the patch, and unreachable. And I DON'T want another copperhead bite!!! I am wearing my big barn boots and long slacks to be safe...[and keeping a close eye out for snakes. And bears, really. We do have some in our area. I did get about 2/3 of my colander full, so I am having a bowl of berries in milk for supper--YUMMY, and I put some in a zipper bag in the freezer for later. I hope I can get out a few more days this week, and do some serious black berry picking to have some for the winter. My veggie garden seems pretty good so far. Since I got a late start, things are not yet ripe for picking, except for two jalapeno peppers... I suppose I could cut some thyme and rosemary, they are doing nicely.
Yeah, don't take any chances. That sounded like and absolute nightmare experience. Big sticks...lots of noise and knee high leather boots lined with lead maybe.
Sounds wonderful. We now have blue berries and got to pick a small amount yesterday. A quick rinse with the hose and they never made it into the house.
Congrats on your harvest. They are good. Do you have the black ones or the "white" ones? I have an unfortunate memory of blackberry picking, though not a serious as your snakey one. A pal and I were sent out to pick some one summer's day. We were * or ( years old...and after we had covered ll the conversational topics, sung a few songs and told all the jokes that we knew....eventuyaslly we became bored as the sun was hot. Inevitably the first berry went into the air. There was a spot on the white T-shirt. There was retaliation...and so it went until we looked like some sort of ragamuffin leopards. While trying to talk my way of a hide-tanning I brought forth the point that the 10 gallon pail was full of berries. It was a good point, but did not save me from a correctional warming-up, as it were.
Sjoerd, I have black blackberries. They are wild ones on my place, and of course, all over. Occasionally, there are 'white' blackberries around here, but not too often. I was not picking blackberries when I got snakebitten, but they DO love blackberries and are known to hide in those bushes in the summer. So, I try to be really careful when I am picking them. A friend suggested using a large board to get into the middle of my the patches of blackberries. I will look around and see if I have anything usable. Your blackberry fight with your friend sounded fun. I worked in the cafeteria where I went to high school, and I remember some of the kids started a food fight with peanutbutter... They were in trouble too.
A friend says they take a rake along to pull the big ripe ones where they can reach them. That is something I want to try tomorrow. And will take the shovel too.
