If you’ve noticed people gingerly poking around the brambles alongside the Burke Gilman Trail, chances are they’ve spotted patches of ripened wild blackberries.
Our little band of berry pickers biked down to the Trail today and found a lush spot parallel to Dunato’s Marine Services and Supply. Though it looked like most of the brambles had already been picked clean, there were still plenty of places underneath for little hands to reach.
Blackberry picking requires skillful hands to reach around the thorny arcs. I highly recommend wearing garden gloves and perhaps long pants for those hard-to-reach spots; but the best places to find the ripest, biggest, darkest blackberries are toward the bottom in the shade of the thicket. Be careful when you pick the berries off their stems, as the juiciest ones tend to fall apart if you pinch them too tight.
Once you bring them home, you might want to consider freezing them if you don’t plan to eat them right away. Simply rinse them in cold water and pour them into a Ziploc. If you plan to refrigerate them, DON’T rinse them first; otherwise they’ll get mushy a lot sooner. Also, wild blackberries stay fresh in the fridge for only a few days, so you might want to consider canning, freezing, making a jam or using them in one of our family’s favorite dessert—Blackberry Cobbler (see recipe below).
BLACKBERRY COBBLER
3 c. berries
2 c. sugar, divided in half
1 c. flour
1 stick (8 tbsp.) butter, melted
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
Place berries in 9 x 13 inch glass dish. Sprinkle with 1 cup sugar. Then mix together flour, remaining cup of sugar, melted butter, vanilla, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Pour this mixture over berries. Bake at 350 degrees until crust turns golden brown. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
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Black berries along the BGT, keep in mind that near Gasworks… this was a “gasworks” and much of the soil at one time was contaminated by heavy metals. Think about what you put into your mouth…sorry to hear something negative about such a yummy treat.
I’m gonna make that recipe sometime, Margaret! How is it warm with a little vanilla ice cream? 😉
Can’t wait to pick, and thanks for the recipe. Num!!!!
Doh! I just saw the last line. Think I’ll go put my glasses on now.
If you want to freeze berries, it’s best to rinse them, lightly dry, put them on cookie sheets and let them freeze. THEN put them into containers or bags and put them back in the freezer. (If you wash and then freeze them in a container, they’ll turn into a block o’ berries.) This way, you can grab handfuls, thaw them, and eat–or toss them in your smoothie.
Caution: berries low down along common footpaths have often been sprayed. Not with pesticides, but by our canine friends. You may want to pick only berries growing higher than the tallest dog you’ve seen in the neighborhood. 🙂
Thank you, Margaret for the tasty tip! Picking berries is such a treat.