BLACKBERRIES

Well, yesterday morning I went Blackberry picking with a friend. Now this is not the picking I remember as a child. As a child we would pick wild blackberries which, quite frankly, you really have to work for. The bushes are very scratchy and prickly and you have to wear long sleeves in the middle of the summer to protect your arms. Still, we would pack a lunch and make a day of it and then, if we had time, we would go by the falls on the way home and get wet in our clothes! (as somehow it was never a planned activity and we never had our swimsuits)

Next we would go home and stay up late cleaning and preparing the berries to be canned. Nothing is better than canned blackberries (which is basically berries in syrup). On a cold Michigan morning, it was such a treat to be able to get a jar of blackberries to eat. We would have a bowl of blackberries and toast. They are WONDERFUL and are something I remember so well from my childhood.

So, when Rebekah called yesterday and asked if I wanted to go picking I didn't hesitate for too long. We went out to Taylor Orchards. This is how EASY it was. We drove right up to the bushes that are heavily laden with luscious berries and they practically fell into our buckets. No thorns, no scratches. In a little over an hour we had picked 24 pints of berries. AMAZING.

Today I will make freezer jam. I found the recipe to can them like we did when I was young, but as I had to PAY for these berries I am not sure I can afford to set myself up to can too. (Jars, lids, a canner or whatever that big pot is called). Still, it should be fun (to make the jam), it WAS fun (to pick them and EAT them. I probably ate a pint while I picked) and I am so thankful for the opportunity.