Tuesday, June 19, 2012

blackberry heaven

The day after we arrived back in town, I realized that the blackberries had started to ripen, a solid week ahead of last year.  I headed out to the back fence, where they grow wild, and even crossed into the pasture behind us to pick a few. The blackberries are always prettier on the other side of the barbed wire fence. ;)


There's nothing like having a fruit that takes absolutely no effort to grow right in your own backyard and takes little effort to collect and store.


Finn spotted my work and came running.  Blackberries are his favorites, as evidenced in previous years, and he never passes up on a chance to pick, and eat, a few.  The trick is keeping him out of my bowl! 


Even through only 15-20% of the berries were ripe, I still managed to collect about 9 cups of berries on Saturday.   


I hadn't really planned to do any canning that day, but since the last jar of blackberry jam is currently in the fridge, I decided to go ahead and make more jam out of the 9 cups I picked.


By late Sunday a few more had ripened so I picked those for pie making.  I collected another 5 cups of berries without much trouble (in my cute little Fire King find from last month).


I couldn't really find a blackberry pie recipe that was exactly what I wanted, so I ended up making this crust, but halved the recipe since I only wanted a one-crust pie.  The pie filling came from this recipe, delicious, if very tart.


A dollop of whipped cream always helps with the tartness, and no one seems to mind that!  A perfect dessert to end a summer day!



5 comments:

  1. Lovely photos! And I bet your pie tastes as delicious as it looks :)

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  2. Your pie looks delicious! I wish I had blackberry bushes in my backyard! I think I am the only one in my area who doesn't. They pretty much grow everywhere here in Bay Area.
    Have a great week
    Lisa

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  3. Joy you're KILLING me! Ok, add some blackberry preserves to my order (ahem) and I shall require a pie upon our next visit. ;)

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  4. Sometimes I feel silly for loving canning pictures, but they are just really pretty to come across. Everything that you have made here looks great, and that is a whole lot of blackberry goodness :).

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  5. wow! we have bushes, and they are deadly! we have to chop them back or they might consume one of our children. But, we planted 1 thornless variety a year or so ago and it's got some good ones on it. Very exciting...not 9 cups. And, love your cherry banner--they are so photogenic!

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