Quickberry quackberry, pick me a blackberry*

Picking blackberries one by one
Soft and black, warm from the sun
Unripe red ones shining like rubies
Black ones hiding in the shade
Stretching up high, risking a fall in the thorny brambles
for the plump, glossy one just out of reach
River rushing, soft berries squishing
Juice running down my arms
Hands, arms, legs all scratched
No more ripe ones
Bring the bucket home
Let the jamberry* making begin!

*referring to the children's classic book Jamberry

Washing blackberries

Smashing blackberries

Justin (in his Superman shirt again) smashing blackberries

It's a messy business

Jam simmering

Blackberry jam!

Extra berries for the freezer

We're fortunate to have wild blackberries growing in our area. Each fall we head to the river to go blackberry picking. We normally just pick enough to snack on or freeze, but today I was feeling ambitious. There weren't quite as many ripe as I was expecting, but we had enough to make 5 jars of blackberry jam and a panful for the freezer. We'll head back in a couple weeks for another harvest. What should be next: blackberry cobbler? dried blackberries? blackberry syrup?