[ponyakr]

Yep, it's that time again. The dewberries are ripe, in North LA. I noticed a lot of black ones yesterday, so I made my first pick this morning. Filled a 5 quart ice cream bucket, pretty quick. But I gave out long before the berries did.

Dewberries are close to the ground, therefore require a lot more bending, than when pickin blackberries. But, I get a LOT fewer battle scars, when pickin dewberries. Dewberries get ripe several weeks sooner than blackberries. I can't really tell any difference in the taste.

Gonna hit 'em again at daylight tomorrow. Since I picked so many berries last year, I have made 'em a part of my daily diet. So, I hope to pick about the same amount as last year. They are cheap eats, IF you don't count your labor.

If I had a job, and/or the finances to race, as desired, I probably wouldn't pick any berries at all. But, if you have no job & very limited funds, you have plenty of time to pick berries, or do most anything else, as long as it don't cost anything.

But, hey, I'm just thankful that I can at least still bend over enuff to pick dewberries ! As you get older, simple things seem to become more important.

Wild blackberries & dewberries are common along the Gulf Coast states.

http://blog.al.com/living-press-regi...ewberries.html

How 'bout it ? Are there any other berry pickers in this crowd ?

I found this very amusing. My method is a little more crude than this.

http://www.wikihow.com/Pick-Dewberries

[hurryinhoosier62]

Wild blackberries I'm familiar with ( good place to find copperheads!), but I've never heard of a dewberry. What do they taste closest to, blackberries or raspberries?

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by hurryinhoosier62

Wild blackberries I'm familiar with ( good place to find copperheads!), but I've never heard of a dewberry. What do they taste closest to, blackberries or raspberries?

Don't think dewberries grow in the Northern states--mostly along the Gulf Coast states.

I can taste no difference in blackberries & dewberries.

I ran across this rattler on a blackberry pick, last year.

[PunchT37]

Used to back in the day. Shame really, Lafayette and surrounding area has grown so much that there is no place to pick anymore.They are good/hard to find. Cheesecake or a cobbler with those or blackberries? Still have blueberry and fig trees to exploit. I use figs stewed down in a BBQ sauce to brush on babyback ribs.

[ponyakr]

Picked another 5 quarts plus. Measured a couple of the bigger ones. I'd figured 1/2", or maybe 5/8". But, they're 3/4". Of course, they're not all this big. There are some that are pea sized. The average size is probably around 3/8"-1/2".

While I was pickin berries, TJ picked some flowers. She said this arrangement is an Iris, a couple of Spider Worts, and some fern, which is growing on the shady side of my little portable building.

It was a good day for nature lovers, around here. The weather was pleasant, around 70 degrees & cloudy. And there were lots birds singin their songs. I only recognized 3 of 'em---a Hawk, a giant Woodpecker, and a Dove. But there were lots of little birds making their happy sounds. Hey, all the little birdies were indeed going tweet, tweet, tweet.

[ponyakr]

Originally Posted by PunchT37

Used to back in the day. Shame really, Lafayette and surrounding area has grown so much that there is no place to pick anymore.They are good/hard to find. Cheesecake or a cobbler with those or blackberries? Still have blueberry and fig trees to exploit. I use figs stewed down in a BBQ sauce to brush on babyback ribs.

TJ makes a cobbler occasionally. But, I eat most of 'em as part of my daily diet. I make a fruit salad of berries, orange slices, applesauce, (and sometimes strawberries), and plain yogurt. Put it over hot oatmeal, for breakfast. And, eat it cold as is or with other added stuff.

I had a couple of uncles & several cousins, who lived in Lafayette. The uncles passed on. Haven't been in touch with most of the cousins in years. One of 'em was a doctor, I think--Jack Hurst. Another cousin is Larry Hurst. He ran the Poor Boy's Riverside Inn restaurant, in Lafy. I think he passed it on to his kids. He raised & sold crawfish for several years. Don't know if he still does that, or not.

TJ & I made several trips to Cajun country, back in the mid '90's. We made the '96 Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, when local girl, Ali Landry, was Miss USA & Crawfish Festival Queen. Also went to lots of Cajun & Zydeco music events. One was the Cajun music awards event, which was held at the old gym, on the Southwestern college campus. I also remember eating at a GREAT all-you-can-eat seafood place. But, we haven't been to South LA in this millennium.

[stellar]

I pick them here in Pennsylvania. They grow on a hillside in my back yard. They won't be ready here for a while yet. I get some strange looks from some neighbors when they see me kneeling on the ground picking and eating. They have no idea what I'm sticking in my mouth. Same goes for the wild strawberries. The strawberries are very small, but they are Soooo much better than any you can buy Much sweeter and tastier. I've been picking berries in the wild for my whole life. I pick dew berries blackberries black raspberries mulberries strawberries huckberries all in the wild. I have a gooseberry plant in my yard and today I got a few red raspberry plants from a friend. Love them berries.

[GT182]

I picked berries of all kinds when I was a kid. Mom said, "If you want to eat any pie you'd better get pickin berries with me".

Up in NY we picked black berries but had to share with the bears. Here in Delaware there's not many places to pick wild berries that I know of. But when I do find wild raspberries that are ready to pick, it's share with the birds. So the best place to find berries is in the grocery store. And the taste just ain't the same as wild berries.

[ponyakr]

Had a new experience on my berry pick today. We had a cold front come thru. The temps were in the 40's when I started, at first light. Just missed the cold record here, by a few degrees. Had a cold tractor ride over to the berry patch. And had to stop a few times to warm my hands, for the first hour of pickin.

But, I got another bucket full of berries, and, it has warmed up & is now a beautiful day, in North Louisiana.

[PunchT37]

Originally Posted by ponyakr

Had a new experience on my berry pick today. We had a cold front come thru. The temps were in the 40's when I started, at first light. Just missed the cold record here, by a few degrees. Had a cold tractor ride over to the berry patch. And had to stop a few times to warm my hands, for the first hour of pickin.

But, I got another bucket full of berries, and, it has warmed up & is now a beautiful day, in North Louisiana.

Yep. Till the real hot and humid sets in solid for good. Then, you`ll think back on these gifts.

[ponyakr]

Yeah, there are blackberries to pick, around here, til about the 4th of July. By that time I try to be back inside, well before noon. After that, the heat is on !

[cuz68]

A little to soon for us now, Rain and more rain.

[ponyakr]

Hey, maybe that'll make the berries bigger & juicier.

[stellar]

Black berries here in Pa. don't even start getting ripe till 4th of July. Black raspberries start mid june till early July. Still waiting for blossoms here.

[ponyakr]

Another nice cool morning for berry pickin here. I got a big one today. It measured aprox 5/8" x 7/8". That's about as big as they get where I pick.

Wish I could find a whole patch full of 'em.

[Greg Reid]

You know, I've been eating and picking Dewberries since I was a little kid and was calling them Blackberries til someone pointed out the difference. I'm nearly 59 years old and I just learned that a couple of years ago.
Tell the truth....who likes those little seeds stuck in between their teefuses?

[Greg Reid]

PS, those are great pics of Woody...Especially the in-flight photo. Not an easy bird to get a clear shot of even at rest...Very shy.

[straycat]

Waiting on the wild strawberries in my back 40.

[ponyakr]

"...those are great pics of Woody...Especially the in-flight photo. Not an easy bird to get a clear shot of even at rest...Very shy. "


Just to be clear, I did not take those pics. I Googled 'em. We have several of those birds in our immediate area. I've seen one, on several occasions, on a tree just North of our house. I could have taken good pics, with a good camera with zoom lens. I see 'em flying over, quite often.

And we can hear 'em, most any time we go outside. The sound they make reminds me of the bird sounds that Hollywood used in the old Tarzan movies. I've read that those birds actually lived in South America, rather than the jungles of Africa. And the loud pecking sounds they make are unmistakable. We also have some of the small woodpeckers here. Their pecking sound is not even similar to the big bird sounds. It sorta reminds me of the difference between an M-16 on automatic vs a 50 caliber machine gun. The 50 is MUCH louder and slower.

[stellar]

Originally Posted by straycat

Waiting on the wild strawberries in my back 40.

We have blossoms on them here in Pittsburgh. How about yours?