My fresh blackberries in the back yard

Good morning again,

Just a quick post to show off my blackberries from two blackberry bushes we planted about 2 years ago.

I just love blackberries, and in the past, I've bought them at the store.  The prices just keep going up and up, and I hate paying their prices.

So two years ago, I bought two blackberries bushes, and my husband was kind enough to plant them in the back yard.  I know the bushes spread.  I watched as new shoots came off the plants.  We are trying to contain them to one corner of the yard in front of our shed.  There is still plenty of room for them to spread their way back to the shed.

Last year, we saw a few tiny blackberries, but didn't bother to pick them.

Last year was a hard year for me, since I had my whipple surgery at the end of July, and then had 2 months of recovery off from work.  I don't think I made it into the back yard all last summer.

This year, I could see from my deck window, lots of red berries, and they were huge!

My husband mowed the yard last Saturday, and he decided to pick the first three blackberries of our season.  One was ready, and really sweet.  The other two still had a tint of red, and were sour-sweet.  I told him we needed to let them get completely black.

I took this picture beside a quarter so you can see how huge they are.  With all the rain this year, they are very juicy!

The two bushes are full of fruit, so I should be picking berries soon.  No more buying them at the store this year.

If, perchance, the birds begin to devour them, I will buy some type of netting to cover them.

Cj

P.S.  When I was growing up, my neighborhood friends and I often went in search of fruit and nuts.  There were plenty available on open plots of land on the way into town.

Even though it was HOT HOT outside, we'd bundle up to protect our skin from the thorns and spiders we found in wild blackberry bushes.  And off we'd go.  We gathered apples, blackberries, and walnuts throughout the summer and early fall (for the walnuts).  We'd take brown paper bags from the store and fill them up.  We took a red wagon with us to put all the bags in.

This was always days of fun!  And sweating!!!!  (And, of course, there was always the "tick" search, once we got home.  It was great to have a sister to help with this!)

I loved making apple pies, and often did and sold them to neighbor ladies for their card playing groups.

The blackberries were always mine to eat alone.

The walnuts would drop from this huge walnut tree.  They were in their green, thick skins, but we always picked them up.  I used to peel the thick, green skin from them, which left my hands stained all brown.  And then I'd lay them out on the ground, side by side, under my back yard bedroom window.  I'd leave them there, drying in the sun, and occasionally open one to see if had dried out enough or was still moist.

Oh how I loved those times.

I also took in ironing from neighbors, earning extra money.

Did you ever do this when you were a kid?