Prime blackberry picking area somewhere in southern Middle Tennessee
One of my favorite things about Summer is the availability of fresh berries and fresh blackberries are my favorite. I’m not talking about those large tame blackberries you get from CSAs and grocery stores. Those fakers are so light on flavor that it’s not worth the hassle of making anything with them. You may have to wade through tall grass, repel chiggers and keep an eye out for a napping rattlesnake but I can assure you it will be worth it in the end. Those tame blackberries may look huge and juicy but they lack the flavor and the fun of the hunt.
Late June is prime blackberry season. You have to be sure to get them before the birds, June bugs and Japanese beetles get to them. As they ripen all three will take these tasty morsels from you before you can reach them. The best course of action is to find a good spot with plenty of bushes and keep an eye on the berries and plan to pick the moment the ripen. This may mean walking a good distance through tall grass and brush to check on them daily as it gets later in the month but you’ll be glad you did. Those pesky birds know how good these things are, too.
After scouring our regular spot for picking these delights we came away with nearly a gallon of small delicious berries. I already had in mind what I wanted to create, a blackberry cobbler, the perfect blackberry concoction. All of that changed when we picked up a few peaches and blackberry peach pie was as good as in the oven. With enough blackberries left over after the pie there was blackberry ice cream, vegan of course, churning to go with the pie. Still this used less than half of our berries. I’m sure to get that cobbler over the weekend and maybe even some blackberry jam.
If you have the opportunity to pick wild blackberries do so and taste what a blackberry is meant to taste like.
Watch the thorns and grab one of the best things you'll ever taste.
A basket of delicious.
Vegan Blackberry Peach Pie
Vegan Blackberry Peach Pie with Vegan Blackberry Ice Cream
That looks incredibly delicious!
I’ve been growing my own blackberries for 3 years now. This year my harvest is big enough for me to make a pie or jam or something else wonderful. I’m so excited.
Wow, those look great! My mouth is watering. And I noticed how you did not disclose where those berries are from. I did the same for the feral blueberry patch I get my blueberries from. And, my pal has some raspberry plants in his yard, and he is completely free form with his yard. I popped one of those raspberries in my mouth, and it was so flavorful. I made the statement it was like raspberry candy! LOL! That is sad isn’t it, that raspberry hard candy taste more like raspberries than the store raspberries.
I could easily give out the location of the blackberry patch right down to the GPS coordinates. Your only issue would be getting around the gun-wielding landowner. I held back that information for your safety. 🙂
Store berries as well as those form most CSAs are so modified from their wild counterparts that the flavor has been sucked right from them in exchange for their ability to grow larger than the wild berries. Big size little flavor. Most blackberry and raspberries grown on commercial farms are even genetically modified to be thornless. What fun is that?
Free form yards are great. That exactly what we have. Herb gardens here and there, grapes in one random spot, strawberries nearby and blueberries growing randomly elsewhere. No symmetry no congruent lines.
Hi,
Do you have a recipe for vegan donuts . I came across your website when I was looking for vegan raised donuts . The donuts you made look so perfect.
Thanks
here in middle tn i have found more than enough.it is July 14,and they are not yet ripe,but i will soon have fun.good luck to all.