June 29, '10

I had told myself for years that I needed to come out during the week when the blackberries were ripening, so I made my mind up to actually do it. No telling how many I lose just picking on the weekend. And the season is just a few weeks. I just took off work for the afternoon, so had to drive out and back the same day. Makes those berries pretty expensive -- and makes me look forward more and more to retirement.

Short Cut
Since it had rained Sunday afternoon and shouldn't be too dusty, I thought I would try the short-cut in the truck. The road is really in bad shape and was almost as rough in the truck as in the 4Runner earlier in the month. But I was glad I took it because I kept seeing blackberries along the road. After passing a large patch I found a place to pull over. I took a gallon container and low and behold I filled up the whole thing. I'd pick one bush, walk a little ways, and find another. They were big, juicy and sweet. Some were so ripe they would just fall off. Of course these weren't thornless like at the house. They caught my shirt, scratched my arms, pulled my hat off, and one actually broke off in my ear -- ouch. But they were worth it. It does make me wonder why I work so hard at growing my own.

My Berries
I had many more ripe than the previous weekend, but there were still lots of red ones -- as you can see from this picture. I got another gallon. Mine have some small ants on them I never remember seeing before. With both batches I rinsed them and then spread them on a towel to dry. The wild berries I spread on cookie sheet, put in the freezer, and later bagged and left at the farm. From the batch I picked the weekend before I had frozen some, but with 3 cups I made crisp with 2 cups of peaches and a crumb topping that had chopped almonds. Boy that was good, especially right out of the oven.

Garden
I picked a half dozen cherry tomatoes and a handful of green beans. Even though the rain gauge had a half inch from the Sunday rain, the garden was really dry. So I watered real good and then weeded some. This picture shows the sunflowers she's got growing in the wild flower plot within the garden.

Spray
I made two trips up the hill to the upper pasture with my backpack sprayer -- 8 gallons. There's not much viney thistle up there, but quite a bit of knapweed and still lots of sumac, though I keep thinking I've about got it under control. I did run across one giant thistle that had already gone to seed -- uck. I'll have to keep an eye on that area next Spring.