Blackberrying

Of the fruity variety, not the electronic gadget variety.

I am amazed at how much food justr grows in this country. On the verges, hedgerows, wherever. There are apples, blackberries, apples, blackberries, nettles (yes you can eat them) and then some more blackberries. So being the hunter gatherer forager type I am, I decided I was going to get me some of this free food.

Just have to find them first. Down by bedmond lane, which is a lane that goes under the motorway and we are widening the bridge, there is a public footpath. These public footpaths criss cross the contryside, ambling through farmers fields and along hedgerows, evenunder motorways. This particular footpath, like many in the country I am sure, is particularly well endowed with Blackberry brambles. The blackberry is a sprawling thorny plant, with long canes that reachup and then dangle down, with masses of thorns, and hopefully, big fat juicy blackberries.

So one afternoon after work, I stopped back down by bedmond lane, fossicked around behing the seats in the car and came up with two cleanish plastic bags that formerly contained muffins. I started up the path, and wow, there were shiny little blackberries everywhere. I don't think it is easy for me to convey just how excited I was about this. I mean, they are berries, and I love berries, and they are for FREE, when you can buythem in the shop for 3 quid a small punnet. So I went a little nuts, pick and picking and picking. Indeed, the plants had pretty much taken over the walkway, and it was more like a duck-weave-carefullystepover-be snagged-way. Never mind the scratches, never mid the itches and the tearing of clothes, I was harvesting blackberries!! So with a large bag full, and bleeding profusely and itching profusely, I thought I'd try my luck further up the lane. BINGO, the biggest, bestest blackberries I have seen. All... right... up high.. and far out in the middle of the patch just out of my reach. Damn. So I circled them, waiting, looking for any opening... and again, BINGO! A large square concrete block - we call them Kelly blocks - was there, just a little way into the brambly patch, and I could get to it by climbing ontp the farmers gate and just stepping over. Yay, I was in big fat blackberry heaven. Doubled the haul right in this spot. Also double the number of nettle stings.

Blackberries are clever little sods. They protect themselves in several ways. The first and most obvious is the thorns of the plant itself. Just like rosebushes really. The second is buy providing the ideal habitat for an array of nast, scary, big pointy teethed spiders. I am not really a spider person, so I got creeped out numerous times byt hings I though were spiders, and actually by two spiders as well. THe third way they protect themselves is by cohabiting with nettles. For anyone who doesn't know about nettles... They bite. A plant that actually bites you, and then you get a little lump come up, and its a very itchy lump.

So by now very itchy, and scratchy, I still didn't quite have enough blackberries for my liking. Two kilos just wasn't going to cut it. Back along the road to another little section, but after the mega patch I had just cleaned out, they were measly and miserable in comparison, so I stole just a few more, and headed home. Via the apple tree at Junction 25 - Richards old work. But the apples aren't quite ripe yet.

So..all these blackberries. Richard doesn't eat them, geez, what am I going to do? Ah HAH. Jam time. So I googled how to make Jam, and got me some sugar with added pectin, a lemon, and a couple of big green cooking apples. Chop these, throw them in thepot with the juice of a lemon, a kilo of sugar, and the well washed berries. Boil for ten minutes. Test to see if the jam will set by putting it on a cold plate and pushing it around then licking it off the plate. Yep, its ready!! I cannot believe how easy it is to make jam! Its so simple, I wonder why anyone buys the stuff when they can pick the berries and make it for free....

Into the jars (wash and boiled) and lids on. I now have four big jars of apple and blackberry jam, and its really yummy. That should last me a while!!

Then we went to Norfolk on the Friday, I'll get around to posting that blog soon.

The aftermath of the blackberry jam volcano.