RicelandMeadows

                                                                July 14, 2012

      These blackberries are ripening slow. They need some rain too. There are (were) a few black ones waiting to be picked, but the real flush should come the next week. I did eat quite a few, as I field tested them for moisture, flavor and sweetness. They passed with flying colors 😮

      This crop is one of my most favorite. I don’t plant them. I don’t tend them. I actually almost forget about them. Then every year about this time, a virtual bounty awaits. Sometimes frost or dry weather takes the crop, but they are persistent and return the next year in abundance.

      I like to pick the tasty treats. I learned from my gramma and grampa Rice. They would pick until they could find no more. Then in the winter, when snow is deep and folks are forced indoors, my gramma would make blackberry pie. My mouth waters as I write. Those pies were sweet, warm and delicious. Oh I loved them so ………..

     My mother would also make blackberry pies for me. She could strecth them some how, so that no matter how many I brought her, there was enough for a pie. My mom’s were sweet, very sweet. They were nothing short of awesome!

      Gramma would also make blackberry or raspberry ice cream. She would not just pour it over top of some store-bought stuff, it was churned right in to the homemade ice cream.  We all turned the crank on the ice cream freezer. It seemed like it would never get done, then all of a sudden it was ready. I will never forget those times…….. ever.

      I make ice cream here too, that old-fashioned way. I don’t do it often enough, but we do make it. Gramma and grandpa made it lots of times. In fact, I can only remember eating store-bought a very few times at their house. Believe me, there is a difference indeed!

      If we get some needed rain in the next few days, the berry crop will be a big one. I am looking forward to gathering plenty for us. I will never grow out of liking blackberry pie … ever 😮

      Those blackberries grow on canes that are covered with thorns. I get scratched up some when picking, but it is worth it. I guess it’s a little like a rose, the beautiful flower perched upon a stalk of thorns. The reward in both cases is … berry good 😮