The Wild Blackberries are nearing their peak season right now. Two weeks ago, I had to struggle to pick a pound and a half of berries. This weekend, it was a completely different story. Somehow, with only .10" of rain, the latest round of berries had tripled in size. It was so much easier to fill and bucket and they were still sweet and juicy. So much for a "bad" berry year!
I ended up picking on a cool, overcast Saturday morning. In about an hour and a half, I had filled up both of my containers to overflowing. I weighed the harvest back at the house; 7 lbs. 11.9 oz. And there were still areas on the property that I hadn't yet picked.
Some of the berries went into a container for fresh eating this week. Other will be frozen for use over the Winter. And one bucket of berries was transformed into 7 pints of Blackberry jam on Sunday. I hope to process another batch later this week.
I also harvested some of the "Camelot" shallots. These 5 weighted in at 9.2 oz. They certainly are large shallots but have such a pretty pink and purple skin. This group is going into a bean & corn salad.
I also was able to harvest a few more tomatoes. Once again the "Bloody Butcher" plant had ripe tomatoes to harvest. These five weighted in at 5.7 oz. I have now harvested 14 tomatoes off of that one plant. But the exciting news is I finally had another tomato variety to pick. The first two "Black Plum" fruit were ready. Each black shouldered tomato weighted exactly 1.0 oz. This variety was a favorite of my Aunt a few years back, so I was excited to grow it once again this year.
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9 comments:
I don't think I've ever seen such purple shallots, it's very pretty. nice tomatoes too.
your shallots and maters are beautiful...good job on getting those berries turned into jam :-)
Those berries are amazing - can't wait to plant a few bushes of my own. I loved the earliness and productivity of the Bloody Butcher tomatoes too but it is nice when you have a bit more variety in the tomato mix, isn't it? I haven't used any of my Camelot shallots yet - how did you find the taste?
Ooh, those blackberries look SO GOOD! I have 3 blackberry plants that I planted this year, and one of them has a few berries but I'm not expecting to get much of a harvest for several years. I'm definitely feeling a little envious of yours!
The blackberry jam sounds so yummy. We grow tame ones but they aren't as tasty as the wild ones are for sure.
Ooooh, look at those berries. And that jam. Yum! I'm headed to Hood River tomorrow with the kids to visit a friend and she's gonna take us blackberry pickin'. I can't wait!
Ooooh, look at those berries. And that jam. Yum! I'm headed to Hood River tomorrow with the kids to visit a friend and she's gonna take us blackberry pickin'. I can't wait!
Love the shallots! They look delicious! The Bloody Butcher too.
I want those berries! I did see some wild blackberries along one of my walks the other day. Sadly I didn't have something to put them in. I'm not sure how easy the berries are to get to though. They are through a mass of thorns. I think I'd have to wear head to toe leather to keep from losing blood.
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