blackberry picking

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I do hope there's still a glut where we go every year.
I've got my 2 homemade baskets ready, and am waiting for Tony to come home from his morning swim.

We have about a 20 minute walk over some fields from where we leave the car.

After a salty soaking, I'll be making a couple of blackberry and apple pies. And freezing the remainder.
Last year's blackberry gin tasted odd, a bit medicinal, so I shan't do that again.
The family preferred the shop bought rhubarb gin.

What do you do with blackberries, other than a pie?

[Otterspocket Profile]

We’re going to check out our secret spot tomorrow

Jam , jelly , vodka and wine for us

We unearthed a bottle of four year old bramble wine recently and it was simply beautiful paired with roast lamb

[scullion Profile]

It used to be wine but now it's mainly crumble.
My partner picked a load from round the garden, yesterday, but then tripped - and couldn't be bothered to pick them all up.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I'll see if Tony wants a crumble, I've never made him one.
Shame about that trip up tho.

Yes, Otterspocket. I think I'll make myself some jam. I've only got a pot of gooseberry jam which won't last long.

My 2007 Sloe Gin under the cupboard went too cloudy about 2 years ago. I wonder if air finally got into the bottles (2).
Bramble wine sounds fantastic!


Edit:

Oooo, I've just seen Sakkarin's link to a preserving site, with blackberry curd on it: http://recipes2.alastra.com/preserving/ ... -curd.html

[karadekoolaid Profile]

Jam and jelly, mostly. The blackberries here are full of pips, which get stuck in the teeth.

I have also made an interesting salad dressing with them - to dress cooked beetroot and rocket.
And a blackberry-flavoured chili sauce.

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I love the sound of the chilli sauce ............. who wouldn't.

In the end, we hardly got any blackberries. Just enough for one pie, with apples, that I shall make tomorrow morning.
Everything is still very green on the brambles, save a small percentage of occasional little ripe black fruits.
We'll give it 2 weeks and go back.

[dennispc Profile]

We've a black berry 'bush' in our garden - cutting from my Dad, so it's a bit old. This year, nothing much and fruit wouldn't pull off from the bramble. Usually I'd walk a few yards across the fields and all would be well. However, housing estates have put paid to that. There are wild ones on the canal, but they'll be another couple of weeks yet.

Every year I make bramble liqueur for family and when we had a lot, crumbles and jam or pick a few each morning to have with muesli.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

Bramble mousse was a staple at mum’s for many years, recipe courtesy of an M&S cookbook. It froze well.

[Badger's Mate Profile]

I add ours to an autumnal version of summer pudding, otherwise pies or crumbles, always with apple.

A friend makes blackberry port, which is good in a summer pud.

I used to make a blackberry chutney, from an old recipe by Mary Norwak iirc. It was good with shepherd's pie, I ought to make it again

[WWordsworth Profile]

Blackberry vodka.

[Sakkarin Profile]

Flipping through "The Complete Robuchon", I spotted some jams, so had a look at the preserving section. The very first recipe there is for Potato Jam. Basically preserved sugary mash flavoured with vanilla.

I guess it was inevitable given that his signature dish was mash, wasn't it?

[Joanbunting Profile]

The wild blackberry season here is unreliable and, depending on the weather, if it arrives it is in late July early August. In the 1980 when we first started coming down here we often went for a country walk and picked blackberries to make jelly, helped by local crab apples. The jelly bag was on old pillowcase - thoroughly washed and tied between the legs of an up-turned kitchen chair.

It was a rather lovely memento of a great summer.

[scullion Profile]

We've a black berry 'bush' in our garden - cutting from my Dad, so it's a bit old. This year, nothing much and fruit wouldn't pull off from the bramble.

take a cutting and see if it produces better in a different part of the garden - it may have run out of nutrients in the patch it's in - or feed it.

[Loulou Profile]

Bramble mousse was a staple at mum’s for many years, recipe courtesy of an M&S cookbook. It froze well.

Oh! I have this book - bought in 1978! I must try making this; I wonder if it would work with frozen ones?

[dennispc Profile]

Thanks scullion, unfortunately our garden is too small to put another cutting. I'll cut it back and feed.

Walking beside a Devon river this morning, couldn't help noticing an abundance of blackberries, all very small but mostly green.

Hope no-body minds mentioning our autumn raspberries. For years we had summer raspberries that cropped well at the right time - early summer. When we retired somehow we managed to be away when they were ready for picking. So two years ago we bought five canes of autumn ones. Only two took and last year we had just a few berries. This year they've grown to over 7' tall and pick a few every morning for our breakfast . I'll let them spread it a bit, cut back when they've finished fruiting and hope the same happens next year. Ideal for freezing.

[Sakkarin Profile]

I wish blackcurrants were as wild and free as blackberries

They seemed to disappear off the supermarket shelves when blueberries became popular, and I recall from a previous thread a while back that most of the UK harvest goes straight to the Ribena factory.

On a scale of 1 to 10 from me,

Blueberries 2 out of 10 (even though they may be good for you)
Blackberries 6 out of 10 (great but a pity about the seeds)
Blackcurrants 9 out of 10

Edit: Raspberries 9 out of 10 too...

[Badger's Mate Profile]

Raspberries and blackcurrants are both very easy to grow. Put them in the ground the right way up and they should produce fruit. Not a lot of work involved each year - a bit of pruning one day and some harvesting during the season.

I also put manure on mine but I've heard that some people prefer cream...

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

When I put blackcurrants into my whizzer, they become mousse-like. 10/10.
I prefer blueberries cooked 5/10.
Blackberries 10/10, and raspberries.

OK, I just made a pie in the end bulked out with apples.
Served with Greek yoghurt - I prefer cream, but didn't have any in, although I could have sworn I did.

[Sakkarin Profile]

Raspberries and blackcurrants are both very easy to grow.

I am fine when mother nature is in control, but everything I have a hand in withers and dies. I've long since given up growing anything other than weeds

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

ha ha ha.
How people grow mint defeats me!
My pot of mint is huge, fair enough. But covered in a white colour - unappetising to look at. It went from plush green to eeeeuuuuuw overnight last week.