Another Blackberry Trip

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So we did it again.  Today was no where near as pleasant as the last time we went.  This time it was over 90 degrees, high humidity, and no wind.  Patti and I picked for about 90 minutes initially.

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Nearly everything left on the vines is ripe, with maybe 5% still needing some time before they can be harvested, but we are going to leave those to the birds or guests at my parent’s B&B who feel like picking.

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Saw this incredible frog hunting bugs from under a dead leaf in the patch, and if he had not moved I would not have seen him at all.  I am grateful that he held still long enough for me to fumble the camera out of my pocket.

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That first 90 minutes of picking did me and Patti in.  We went back to the house with about 2.5 gallons of berries.  I fell asleep on the couch for about an hour as a thunderstorm rolled through, then I went back out for another hour and picked another gallon of blackberries, as well as a handful of wild grapes which had ripened since last week.  I processed it all down into pulp and juice again, while baby Violet stayed by my side eating all the blackberries I could shovel down to her.  We had dinner down there, and made it home by 10.  Another exhausting day, but this should round out all of the syrup and jelly we plan on making.

As a side note:  I took the seeds and pulp that did not go through the food mill which was about 3/4 of a gallon.  I added a cup of water to it, heated it up on the stove, then ran it through the tomato mill again, extracting another quart of juice and pulp which honestly made the extra time and effort worth it.

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2 Responses to Another Blackberry Trip

  1. Alanna says:

    Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group?
    There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content.
    Please let me know. Cheers