Last weekend we headed up to Cazadero, near Guerneville, to pick up Alex from music camp. We didn’t know when he’d be performing, so we arrived what turned out to be 90 minutes early. I was prepared, though, because I know what can be found all over the coast range in August.
The highway leading to the camp is lined with blackberry bushes, and the berries were ripe. While waiting for the concert, I filled a container and a Ziploc bag. The next day I folded part of the berries into cake batter for a blackberry buckle (a cake with a crisp topping, like coffee cake).
I’ve found that blackberries don’t freeze well, but maybe I feel that way only because I know what a blackberry eaten warm off the vine tastes like. Perhaps if I had the opportunity to taste a freshly picked blueberry I’d cop the same attitude about the frozen variety.
At any rate, I can’t pick enough that I need to freeze them. After only an hour in the blackberry vines I look like I lost a wrestling match with a cat. Fortunately, an hour’s worth of picking produced enough berries for a cake and a pie.
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Better you than me. I spend an inordinate amount of time ridding my property of blackberries. They're invasive, nasty, scratchy, and rude.
ReplyDeleteFresh-picked little wild Maine blueberries (this month is the best) are a far better choice. Fortunately, I'll be in Maine next week. I plan to bring back a cooler full of the little darlings
The crop is slowly ripening up on Bernal. I expect to see you up there with the Tupperware!
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'm freezing some raspberries from Alemany. I know (sigh), not fresh off the bush, but a bit of summer saved for Winter still floats my boat.
You can't beat huckleberries from the Pacific Northwest. We just spent a day in sight of three majestic Cascade peaks - Hood, Adams and St. Helens - in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest berry fields. One side of the road was off limits to all but members of the Yakama Indian tribe, who were there taking advantage of their rights. We found enough huckleberries for a pie on our side.
ReplyDeleteIf you go to Oregon or Washington, try visiting different sites. You'll find a variety of huckleberry species in the woods, all delicious.
The huckleberries made it past the agricultural station in our cooler and are now frozen. They'll appear in a pie this Thanksgiving. Nothing better!
Nalongo