For some reason, in my memories of my childhood, my birthday – which falls in mid-September – was always bathed in glorious sunshine. I am sure this cannot have always been the case. I am sure at least some of those autumn days must have been cold and cloudy. Rainy, even. As I wrote the first draft of this post, it was grey, and the garden path squelched with overnight rain. Yet, in my earliest Birthday memories, I am outside in the warm sunshine, and the tips of my fingers are stained pink from blackberry picking.
There are few things quite as heart-warmingly reassuring as blackberrying. Even today, around my Birthday each year, my mother and I organise a foraging trip to visit the same network of lanes outside my childhood village that we went to when I was at primary school. Regardless of the weather.
Blackberries are a very reliable hedgerow fruit. Unlike the varying fortunes of wild stoned fruit – damsons, greengages, wild cherries – blackberries seem to have consistently good harvests: while an individual bush might fare better or worse from year to year, you never need to look far to find a hedgerow with an abundance of fruit.
Blackberries are also very punctual, appearing like clockwork in the hedgerows around our home in the last few weeks of August, and at their best in the first two weeks of September (which, coincidently, is also when the cooking apples in our parents’ gardens ripen, for one of the most satisfying and seasonal food parings).
The end of the blackberrying season – like so many British seasons – is wrapped in legend and tradition. According to Christian folklore, it is unwise to harvest blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day (11 October) because, after Lucifer had been defeated by the Archangel Michael during the war in heaven (Revelation 12:7–10), he apparently landed in a blackberry bush, and vented his fury on the poor fruit, spitting and urinating on them!
Assuming you catch them before Lucifer does, blackberries are probably the most beginner-friendly of all foraging: they are instantly recognisable, incredibly straightforward to use in the kitchen and – with the exception of the thorns and stained clothing – very easy to harvest.
Once you’ve brought your harvest back to the kitchen, the options are endless. We usually combine our blackberries with apples and make a simple crumble or – if we are feeling more adventurous – a pie. This year, however, we opted for a bramble jelly, based on a Delia Smith recipe, but adapted - via a lengthy text message exchange with my mother - to make it a sharper fridge jam.
A few words of advice before blackberrying:
Those thorns are worth dwelling-upon for a moment. Not only are you very likely to find your clothes snared by them more than once, they can be pretty vicious if they snag your skin, so wear a long-sleeved top, full-length trousers and study shoes. I personally find wearing gloves ruins my dexterity for picking the blackberries and therefore prefer to just be extra careful, but bring a pair if you’re worried.
The roads could be more dangerous than the thorns. Some of the best spots to find blackberries are in the hedgerows along the sides of countryside roads. However, the roads are much busier than I remember them being when I was young, so always make sure you aren’t standing in the road on a blind corner when foraging, and ensure you have space to step aside if a car were to come along quickly.
The well-equipped forager. Aside from appropriate clothing, a few other items will be indispensable for an enjoyable blackberrying session: small plastic bags for collecting your harvest; a study shopping bag or box for transporting your haul; and some wet wipes, for trying to clean the stains off your fingers before turning back for home.
Identifying ripe blackberries is easy. A ripe blackberry will be completely black, with no red remaining, very glossy, and soft to the touch. They should probably be washed before eating, but I usually eat a few while foraging anyway. It's also a good test for the perfectly ripe blackberry: if you immediately want to eat another, it was probably ripe! Slightly less ripe blackberries are fine, however, if you plan to cook them, either to make jam or a crumble.
Leave some blackberries for the wildlife. You are still likely to find more than enough ripe ones at this time of year, and many animals – from thrushes and warblers to foxes and badgers – also enjoy a ripe blackberry, so make sure you leave plenty on the bush, so there are enough to go around!
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