Blackberries

anyone here can come and cook for me!

Hahaha polnan. You wouldn't want the mess I leave in a kitchen.

When our children were at primary school, my neighbour and I would take the children blackberry picking after school, on the first day of the new school year in September. So I would not expect to see them ripe yet. The wild ones at the end of my garden are still very small and green.

But maybe different varieties ripen at different times.

muse

I never pick blackberries here - mid Cornwall- till mid August. I'll be making lots of bramble jelly but thanks for other recipes especially the gin. Not a fan of the seeds.

We never used to pick them until late August or September in the wild even in Devon.
Ours were wild ones we found in our garden, DH has looked after them and they seem to come on much earlier.

Everything has been late this year after a cold spring

I never look for wild blackberries until early September.

Blackberry butter on fresh scones,delicious

When I had five children at home they used to love collecting blackberries from a nearby disused railway embankment.Large squash bottles with a handle, and the hole widened, make great containers. A neighbour let us collect her windfall apples too. The result was lots of jam and jelly, fruit pies and puddings, which were a great aid for my tight budget.

Nowadays a jar of jam lasts me for months, but I still miss those happy days of scavenging with the family.

Summer pudding!!

Must be the temperature and weather. My sister in Carlisle has been picking them for nearly a week. Quite large ones, too. Get ready to make jam.

It sounds like you and your family had a great time blackberrying GG78.It's good to look back on happy times

Yes, I think the reason I enjoy blackberrying is because we used to do it when I was a child. We also were very poor and ate anything that we could scavenge.

Gagarin
No do not sieve seeds. Afraid it would never cross my mind but then I am happy to eat grape pips despite being told I’ll have a grapevine growing in my insides!

pinkwallpaper

Gagarin
No do not sieve seeds. Afraid it would never cross my mind but then I am happy to eat grape pips despite being told I’ll have a grapevine growing in my insides!

I prefer bramble jelly and blackcurrant jelly to jam but was told the other day that the pips are good for us.

Blackberry crumble, yum!

I've promised to make my husband some blackberry jam this year....never made it before have any of you 'jam makers' any good hints or tips to help me please?

TIA

I just picked first blackberries along with the last black currants simmered with some sugar. Put them through a sieve and in a sterilised jar I have the syrup on ice cream or pancakes. Mix it with vodka or gin for my spirit drinking friends as gifts. I like it mixed in carbonated water or plain cider.

I see masses on my usual walk in a leafy part of SW London, but almost all are still hard and green.

I remember that I used to pick blackberries but always put them in salted water so that the maggots came out.

I told my aunt and she said not to bother - extra protein!

I do that too Liz46 I’ve managed to pick a couple of boxes so far some are really ready and some still green. Love blackberries, my GD always eats some straight out of the freezer.

A lovely development to my blackberry picking this year. My 3 year old grandson also loves foraging for anything edible in the wild. We've found blackberries, wild raspberries and also a few red currants.

He loves going blackberry picking with me and always comes home looking like a mini vampire, with his stained mouth. Even when he can't reach them, he's happy to hold the tub for me, and eats the ones he likes the look of.

We picked 2 boxes at the park today. I've just had some, stewed, with Greek yoghurt. Delicious!

We have a lot of blackberry bushes around us and so far this year we have picked four and a half pounds of good sized fruit, and there are a lot more just coming ripe. It’s a good year. I also soak them in salt water, drain them on a tea towel, open freeze them on trays and store them in freezer bags. I made jam last year - it was a disaster (my fault) and a complete waste of the fruit, so this year they’ll be used for pies and crumbles.

I have several bags of blackberries (along with a few of the late summer fruiting raspberries) in the freezer and we’ve already had two summer puddings and a blackberry crumble, but the main bushes are just ripening now, so we’re going to have another bumper crop this year.

We are currently keeping a watching brief on the elderberries too. We made elderberry cordial last year - a lovely hot pick me up on a cold day. If you buy it in the shops, it’s very expensive. Very cheap to make at home. We are careful to leave enough for the birds though, if they haven’t got there first!?

Blackberries for Blackberry and Apple Crumble, that never gets refused. Also pick lots of Sloes for Sloe Gin, super Christmas presents, hic!.