FREE Blackberries...You Pick and Haul

[Bailey Guns]

There's an invasive species of blackberry, the Himalayan Blackberry, that literally grows EVERYWHERE throughout this area of Idaho and the entire Pacific NW. When I was a kid regular blackberries grew wild in the area where we lived near Houston. But I don't remember the huge, razor-sharp thorns on them like these. On the upside, the berries on this variety are said to be bigger.

Our entire house/yard is ringed with these berry bushes. They make an impenetrable barrier to almost everything except little rabbits. Removing them usually requires a small bulldozer according to most folks I've talked to. I guess I'll just try to keep them in check with a trimmer...cause I do love me some blackberries. Wife's gonna be busy making stuff outta blackberries.

I'm actually thinking of getting a few goats. In some cities on the west coast there are actually places that rent goats to eat the berry bushes in order to control their growth or remove them from property. Apparently they love to eat the blackberry canes.

The main bushes:
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2380_zps9wx50w30.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2376_zps2bjbphgj.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2377_zpsa55zucte.jpg

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2378_zpsuporleei.jpg

Each of the flowers in the above photo will produce this:
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2381_zpspyrqwm2n.jpg

Getting to the berries requires avoiding these:
http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2379_zpszykvxfps.jpg

[TheGrey]

Wow!
And the goats aren't bothered by those gigantic thorns?

[Bailey Guns]

Apparently not.

[Gman]

Good luck getting rid of them! When I lived in Oregon, you couldn't kill 'em with poison. I learned how to cover myself in denim when I would go trout fishing. The worst was getting the low canes wrapped around your ankle and the thorns working like a saw blade as you took a step. I also learned how to fish with ultralight spinning gear to get around the overgrowth since there was no room to back cast and working a long fly rod through the brush was nearly impossible.

We would primarily pick the berries along the railroad tracks where you could get to the edges of the bushes and just work down the line. The berries are quite large.

You'll have plenty for blackberry cobbler, jams, etc. even though you'll be competing with the raccoons and other wildlife.

[Irving]

Sounds like you'll be getting bears through there soon.

[ben4372]

Yep, as a kid in Oregon I got stuck a few times. Like Gman said, Almost impossible to kill.

[Gman]

Yep, as a kid in Oregon I got stuck a few times. Like Gman said, Almost impossible to kill.
...and then there were the nettles....[Coffee]

[asmo]

I am beyond jealous.. I love me some blackberries. Marion berries are my favorite (not the mayor), but blackberries are a damn close second.

[Bailey Guns]

Sounds like you'll be getting bears through there soon.

I guess the bears don't wander down to where we are too often. Though there was a wolf that was shot not far from here that had attacked some livestock.

There are far too many of these berries for the birds and other wildlife to eat. Even in winter you see the dried berries on the plants by the millions. Everywhere.

[Great-Kazoo]

Wow!
And the goats aren't bothered by those gigantic thorns?


Goats will plow through anything they can get their jaws on.
From spring - fall our daughter , 15 at the time. Worked for a woman who rented her goat herd out. The kid was all over Colorado, from Larimer county to the 4 corners.
http://www.goatseatweeds.com/the-herders.html

She called me one time saying Dad, guess what I'm doing! Give me a hint.

I'm driving a dually through Vail, pulling a trailer of goats! Great learning experience that year for her.

[UncleDave]

Yeah we had those by our family cabin in th Northern Califonia Sierras. Those thorns are merciless. My grandmother would always rope us into picking blackberries. On more than one occasion we had black bears picking them with us. Just as happy as they could be picking and eating berries. Totally ignoring us.

[davsel]

Fond memories of picking blackberries along the tracks West of Houston.
I think you'd need to put on full MC leathers to tangle with those left-coast bushes.

[Brian]

Dang, would be awesome to make some blackberry mead out of that. :)

[GunsRBadMMMMKay]

Mmmmmmmm, blackberries. We ate a ton of those in Oregon, I kind of miss them. Those and golden Chantrelle's. Never figured out a recipe to combine them but I bet it would be good.......can't beat free food.

[Bailey Guns]

^^ Had to look up chanterelle to see what that was. Maybe they'd go together in some sort of salad.

[KS63]

Chanterelles go great in a risotto with Parmesan cheese. Made this quite a few times, but you're a slave to the kitchen while making it.

[GunsRBadMMMMKay]

Yeah we ate them with pasta a lot...sautee the mushrooms up with some butter. delicious. Weird thing is I remember the ones we picked out there tasting way better then the ones they sell at Costco (I bought a pack remembering how good they were). Probably cuz they were free LOL

[Bailey Guns]

Wife was trimming some of the "tentacles" from the blackberry bushes. I was following behind her picking the early crop. That's a 2 quart colander after about 20 mins work. Some are still pretty tart, most are fantastic. I forgot how tasty fresh-picked blackberries are.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSCN0441_zpslsw2mlyb.jpg

[WETWRKS]

Like the taste...don't care for all the seeds.

[rondog]

Dang, those things are big!

[theGinsue]

I used to pick gallons of blackberries (with plenty of thorns) back in MO but when I was stationed in MA, I ran across a good sized patch of the largest blackberries I'd ever seen. There were also some raspberry bushes nearby. We got a gallon or two of the blackberries but it sucked wearing heavy denim and long sleeved shirts in the heat/humidity of Massachusetts summer to get them without too much thorn damage.

Looks like you've got a gold mine in summer flavor there Bailey. Enjoy! And remember, a fine cobbler ain't just a good shoe maker.

[Bailey Guns]

I've already issued the orders to Mrs BG. Not surprisingly, she signaled to me I was #1.

d6XkFlygtJg

[clodhopper]

I used to pick gallons of blackberries (with plenty of thorns) back in MO but when I was stationed in MA, I ran across a good sized patch of the largest blackberries I'd ever seen. There were also some raspberry bushes nearby. We got a gallon or two of the blackberries but it sucked wearing heavy denim and long sleeved shirts in the heat/humidity of Massachusetts summer to get them without too much thorn damage.

Looks like you've got a gold mine in summer flavor there Bailey. Enjoy! And remember, a fine cobbler ain't just a good shoe maker.

Spent my adolescent years in Lexington MA. The train tracks near my house were lined with wild blackberries up to 10 ft or so tall. My dad fashioned long hooks from coat hangers to pull down the long branches to reach the berries. He also put a string on milk carton with the top cut off so you could put it around your neck and have two hands free to pick. Always felt like summer when dad pulled out the berry tools and hung them on the peg in the garage. I spent a lot of time picking berries as it was something to do away from parental oversight. We ate a lot of cobbler and about anything else that you could make with blackberries. My mom would cook them down into syrup for pancakes and ice cream topping. Yummy.

[GilpinGuy]

BG I see a lot of properties for sale by you have berries and fruit trees. This is good stuff.

[Bailey Guns]

Yep...

The area here in the valley is turning into quite the grape/wine producing region. Lots of local vineyards producing their own wines. Some of it's pretty good.

[Irving]

My wife says you should go on a blackberry cleanse.

[BladesNBarrels]

Goat, berries, wrapped in grape leaves... mmm-mmm-good!


66048

[buffalobo]

Hard to loose on the goats, looks like you got plenty of feed.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Bailey Guns]

Mrs BG's first attempt at blackberry cobbler. Yes...it was good. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hell, yeah...Happy Birthday America.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2403_zpsmmqaxfuv.jpg

[Gman]

When live gives you thorny bushes covered with berries....nom nom nom.

[theGinsue]

Spent my adolescent years in Lexington MA.

I was just right across Hwy 95 from Lexington @ Hamscom. I don't miss the area/state, but I do miss the berries.


Wonderful looking cobbler BG. Serving it with vanilla ice cream was a good call...it's the best way to eat warm blackberry cobbler.

[beast556]

Mrs BG's first attempt at blackberry cobbler. Yes...it was good. With a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Hell, yeah...Happy Birthday America.

http://i625.photobucket.com/albums/tt337/baileyguns/DSC_2403_zpsmmqaxfuv.jpg

Man that looks so good!!!!!

[roberth]

It looks delicious.