Everything is Food - Blackberries
by Stephen Watts
Blackberries
Brambles, Rubus spp..
Do I really need to tell you of the joys of blackberry picking? As the nights
start to creep back in after a lazy July they start to ripen. I can usually
pick them from August to November with quantities picked in September and
October.
I love them for breakfast. I go out picking with large plastic containers
to my favoured spots or wander and explore through the woodland edges or clearings
and simply graze on all the ripe ones (the ones which drop off in your hand)
and any which are black but still slightly firm need leaving on a table (or
fridge) for a few days to ripen off.
I rarely wash them but that is since I trust the sources I pick from. I
tend to avoid busy main road sides but I have picked them on the edge of a
motorway service station! (The birds don’t seem to mind them unwashed!)
Where to Pick Wild Blackberries
The best sources are woodland edges in parks and abandoned allotments in
an urban environment. Out in the country most sources are safe and sound.
I go on picking until I want a change of food in my diet which on many occasions
hasn’t been until late afternoon. I often nibble on wild greens/herbs while
I feast, since it helps to balance the sweet sugary flavour and protects my
teeth somewhat from the acid build up. (Make sure they are ripe).
If I find a good spot I can fill a large box (as well as my tummy) in about
half an hour. Keep your eyes open for spots everywhere you go - especially
around the full moons time in September/October.
The early blackberries (August) will be found on sunny, sheltered, low lying
south facing slopes. The late ones (October/November) will be found in shady,
high north facing woods.
Free food and wild foods are self-sufficiency topics covered in our
book, Low Cost Living.
For more information on the book see
Low Cost Living
Once you have found a spot it can be an ever returning source of tasty, nutritious,
free food. I wont even go into the medicinal properties of the berries since
I'd just be trying to convince you to eat them.
One thing to be aware of: if you’re not used to eating lots of fruit and
fruit with seeds in then eating lots of blackberries may give you the runs
initially since your gut is not used to the quantities of seeds in them. This
will clear once your body has adjusted.
If you pick more than you can eat (which isn’t hard, even if you are a blackberry-holic
like me) give them to someone else - Little or big, old or young - Anyone
will do!!
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