tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post5213622307769661814..comments2023-11-13T02:00:52.653+11:00Comments on life's free treats: Brambles have Thorns, as well as Fruit!meggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00061112627819270427noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-6097470439976162792007-08-23T23:01:00.000+10:002007-08-23T23:01:00.000+10:00I also have fond memories of blackberry picking wi...I also have fond memories of blackberry picking with my grandmother and mother. I'm sure jam was made, since my grandmother used to make stuff like that but I only remember eating them as berries (I've never been a big jam fan).caramaenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06424093087905485630noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-4865656205124479712007-08-23T21:16:00.000+10:002007-08-23T21:16:00.000+10:00We still have some of the wine berries growing dow...We still have some of the wine berries growing down by our creek.They are best eaten raw.<BR/><BR/>When we lived on the farm in South Taranaki, and had very small boys we did lots of blackberry picking. On our own farm we had a place we called the rough ground but our boys called "the Wild Woods," where we picked berries. A useful trick is to take a plank of wood and lie it onto the bush so you can walk up it into the top of the bush and not get scratched legs.Ali Honeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12671890094425941272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-78056883655736593622007-08-23T13:39:00.000+10:002007-08-23T13:39:00.000+10:00Making jam is something I was discussing with the ...Making jam is something I was discussing with the kids only yesterday. But it is one of those cooking things that makes me nervous - as in I have never done it before so am lacking confidence. Our blackberry bush will not die (though it should as they are a real pest here in the mountains) but does not bear enough fruit to make jam with.Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08578720378832806483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-2787996202333317282007-08-23T13:06:00.000+10:002007-08-23T13:06:00.000+10:00Zach tried to pick a berry and eat it while fishin...Zach tried to pick a berry and eat it while fishing the other day. I grabbed it from his dirty little paw and told him "DON'T EAT THAT". Does that count as a berry picking memory for him?~Bren~https://www.blogger.com/profile/14533891842002502385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-53492448972865426282007-08-23T12:27:00.000+10:002007-08-23T12:27:00.000+10:00Ooooh...that sounds so yummy. Toast with butter a...Ooooh...that sounds so yummy. Toast with butter and jam is my favorite food.Katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12561892583686450813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-58750724365890238692007-08-23T11:29:00.000+10:002007-08-23T11:29:00.000+10:00We had a massive blackberry bush just over the fen...We had a massive blackberry bush just over the fence at the bottom of our backyard, and others 'down the creek' where we used to play, but we were never allowed to pick or eat the berries, in case they had been sprayed. Because they are a noxious weed. We turned the huge one at the bottom of our yard into a big bonfire one year, and that was the end of it.<BR/><BR/>There was a peach tree on a vacant block near our house though, and we used to climb it in summer and stuff our faces with warm ripe peaches, yum. And then there was the ancient old mulberry tree at my Great Aunt's farm....craftyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14396831672463509735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-13184684562415145262007-08-23T10:45:00.000+10:002007-08-23T10:45:00.000+10:00Yes I too was part of many a blackberrying expedit...Yes I too was part of many a blackberrying expedition organised by my Mum. We whinged at the time (the heat, the flies, it's boring) but we were more than happy to scoff down the delicious jams and icecreams and berries.Stomper Girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04038937073264645029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-30927098776870763382007-08-23T10:23:00.000+10:002007-08-23T10:23:00.000+10:00I have tried and tried to get a blackberry bush gr...I have tried and tried to get a blackberry bush growing in my yard. A friend of mine has a wonderful one and she gives me cutting each year but they never take (a lot of leaves but no berries) and then seem to die in the winter. Blueberries too! I'd love to know the secret!Tanyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00858446371419879296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-30079343579065552962007-08-23T06:55:00.000+10:002007-08-23T06:55:00.000+10:00Hi Everyone. It seems most of us have memories of ...Hi Everyone. It seems most of us have memories of blackberrying or at least picking some type of berry, when young. It is a great shame, but my grandchildren will never know the joys- & the perils!<BR/>I recently bought a jar of commercial blackberry jam. It had no taste at all, except sickly sugar, & i am sure it was Choko dyed dark red.<BR/>I laughed at your tale Rise, & could envision you & your swollen belly & your Fil leaning over the cauldron!<BR/>And, Joyce the names of those fruits are mostly foreign to me- Saskatoons??<BR/>Ian, I laughed when you said Yellowjackets- they are fish over here, & I was envisioning fish snapping at you picking berries! I must remember never to take blackberries to Hawaii- should I ever be lucky enough to get there!<BR/><BR/>I also note, that most memories of the berries involve a Grandma somewhere! I guess my grandkids wont have memories of me, with berries of any sort! What a pity.meggiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00061112627819270427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-35268946592726049462007-08-23T05:46:00.000+10:002007-08-23T05:46:00.000+10:00I have happy summer memories of blackberrying with...I have happy summer memories of blackberrying with my friends in the summer holidays. They were for many years my favourite berry. I can still get them now, but only from the supermarket. They are bigger, but tasteless commercially grown things, and so disapapointing. It seems if they ever grew wild here they have all been grubbed out.<BR/>Your childhood pursuits sound very much like mine..Sheilahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06731396546695910306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-34522480287085907272007-08-23T03:51:00.000+10:002007-08-23T03:51:00.000+10:00Your describe your berry pickings so well. We wou...Your describe your berry pickings so well. We would sometimes go with my Grandma Addie into the woods to pick blue berries. It was such a treat to be able to go with her. She knew where all the good bushes were in every direction.ancient onehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12996555276368371467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-40517046125292669302007-08-23T03:17:00.000+10:002007-08-23T03:17:00.000+10:00blackberries are in season over here. The FB would...blackberries are in season over here. The FB wouldn't eat them and then he discovered that he could pick his own and loved them.velcrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16729091819572955175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-59419555697110237132007-08-23T01:38:00.000+10:002007-08-23T01:38:00.000+10:00Blackberries -- one of the joys of summer, despite...Blackberries -- one of the joys of summer, despite the thorns and the threatening yellowjackets, who also love blackberries. The fine patch of wild berries near our home was turned into a %$#@ housing development last year, alas. But, we also grow our own and I made a pie from them last weekend.<BR/>Did you know (as I noticed your 'Sweet Leilani' reference) that it is a criminal offence to bring a blackberry plant to the Hawaiian Islands? You could get as much as 10 years inside if you were convicted. But, considering the climate and the ubiquity of blackberries, I can understand why.Ian Lidsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14106994463366766471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-41921374823870997062007-08-23T01:19:00.000+10:002007-08-23T01:19:00.000+10:00My husband's grandmother could make the most delic...My husband's grandmother could make the most delicious jams and jellies: strawberry, blackberry, apricot. Perfect on toast or warm bread. mmmmmmmm. You are making me hungry!Melindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11673930610844503371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-64700180845337267862007-08-22T23:01:00.000+10:002007-08-22T23:01:00.000+10:00Sounds delicious. We have lots of wild fruit here ...Sounds delicious. We have lots of wild fruit here too, including chokecherries, Saskatoons, plums and cranberries. You've probably never heard of most of these but they are delicious in jams and Saskatoons are to die for right off the bush.Joycehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17083924435653058457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-70262759503129869732007-08-22T22:03:00.000+10:002007-08-22T22:03:00.000+10:00Yum, I can smell them cooking!Yum, I can smell them cooking!Aunty Evilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18433383999833031264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-20712783889753727682007-08-22T21:31:00.000+10:002007-08-22T21:31:00.000+10:00This reminded me so much of a holiday with my Gran...This reminded me so much of a holiday with my Grandma when I was 7. We spent most days collecting blackberries. I think my favourite treat is bread, cream and blackberry jam, although homemade raspberry jam is pretty delicious too. Oh, those fun filled days of youth - long before the cares of the world took over. Shame that they did!Alicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10901064145483995261noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-85055686314055594752007-08-22T20:40:00.000+10:002007-08-22T20:40:00.000+10:00Lovely, evocative post, Meggie!I have an abiding m...Lovely, evocative post, Meggie!<BR/><BR/>I have an abiding memory of making blackberry jam with my father-in-law (having lumbered around the bushes collecting them!) 3 days before no.1 son was born. We were like the witches from Macbeth, hovering over the steaming cauldrons chanting "Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble ...."<BR/>I can still smell the memory! Another couple of weeks and we'll be off out again, cans in hand to gather once more ... not with fil this time, unfortunately.riseoutofmehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14900369522350465257noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-49965540483706297942007-08-22T20:07:00.000+10:002007-08-22T20:07:00.000+10:00Oh, YUM!That post smelled beautiful.(And made my m...Oh, YUM!<BR/><BR/>That post smelled beautiful.<BR/>(And made my mouth water.)fifihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06946945635726214503noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33880433.post-9924086817524572572007-08-22T19:34:00.000+10:002007-08-22T19:34:00.000+10:00Ah , Meggie , Just reading of those fat juicy win...Ah , Meggie , Just reading of those fat juicy wineberries has made my mouth water & the memories flood back & if I close my eyes I can taste them , smell them , feel the thrill of finding a good patch & hear the bees and the rustle of the grass , smell the flowers ( and the cows ! ) hear the birds and almost believe I am there again -- M. tells me they are still to be had - should you know where to find them & / or take the time .<BR/> Still some blackberries about too no doubt . Marvellous memories!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com