berries

[white eagle]

anyone picking them yet?
just started to pick black caps (black raspberry's)and raspberry's
makes some awesome jam

[trails4u]

SWMBO has already put up strawberry, blueberry and blackberry jam.. She's a canning machine!!

[gew98]

2 to 3 weeks ago I picked enough wild raspberries to make 16 pint & half pint jars of jam. I use half the sugar the recipes call for and get an awesome tart jam !. My blackberries are slow in coming this year due to lack of rain... might not get much as their season is on and not so good thus far.

[MaryB]

Neighbors raspberries are sklow this year, I eat a few when I mow her lawn, slow down on the way by the bushes and pick a dozen as a snack

[DCP]

Not to many black berries this year. Last 2 years have had a lot. We have 4 plants

[crowbuster]

Round here even the birds are tired of the raspberries. Haha got over 15 gal. and the m.i.l. took what was left from last year for jelly, bout 5 gal. not complainin, before last year had two bad years. Dont fool with the blackberries much but they are about ready here.

[LIMPINGJ]

Started out a good year for blackberries at my place but the heat and no rain has got the last half of them. I think I got about 5 gal in the freezer, when people ask about the way my hands and arms look I just say that I have been bathing cats.

[tygar]

I've been picking (well mainly eating) red rasberries & wild blackberries we have on our acreage for a couple weeks. The reds are great. Big bunches all together so easy to pick. Wild blackberries are small & tons of seeds & not as good. But still make good jelly.

[Pb2au]

Mulberries are just finishing up. We have a gallon and a half in the freezer.
raspberries and blackberries are just coming on right now. We will be out this week getting what we can. We have lots of birds this year.

[reloader28]

I envy you guys.
We have problems getting our razberries to produce. Going to rework the patch this fall.
I love blackberries, but dont have any planted yet. We have to buy them.

The only thing better than fresh blackberries is blackberry wine. MMMMM
If you have 3 extra pounds of berries, make a gallon. Its very easy and I garrantee you wont be disappointed.:D

[tygar]

Mulberries are just finishing up. We have a gallon and a half in the freezer.
raspberries and blackberries are just coming on right now. We will be out this week getting what we can. We have lots of birds this year.

Man do I envy you! I love Mulberries! On our old place we had dozens of trees. A couple that were so old that they were a good 4' thru the base & had to put a ladder in the truck bed & use a rope with a hook to pull down the branches to pick. Sometimes we would put a tarp down & just shake the big branches with the hook & rope.

I would just graze my way around the place in the morning eating fresh peas, mulberries & cucumbers.

We have 1 tree on this place & the birds eat them before I can even get to them. Been trying to find some older trees to plant.

[MaryB]

Picked a cup or so from the neighbors today, enough for pancake syrup tomorrow!

[Pb2au]

It's been crazy this year. We have been racing the birds to get the mulberries. Most of the time there never seems to be an issue, but this year there are a lot of birds to contend with.

[WRideout]

Mulberries are just finishing up. We have a gallon and a half in the freezer.
raspberries and blackberries are just coming on right now. We will be out this week getting what we can. We have lots of birds this year.

This year I harvested ten pounds of mulberries from a virtual forest of them that grows on the South Side of Pittsburgh. They are now nicely fermenting into five gallons of wine. On the way home from work last Friday, I found a wild raspberry patch growing right off 5th Avenue, in the Uptown neighborhood. I took home about a pint; will also go into wine. Just waiting for the wild grapes to get ripe.

Wayne

[Pb2au]

Just waiting for the wild grapes to get ripe.Wayne

We just found a big patch of wild grapes near one of our mulberry haunts, so we are waiting for them to ripen as well!

[kootne]

4 gal. of huckleberries (the Prince of berries) this week-end.
kootne

[JWFilips]

Here in NEPA we have have been picking red raspberries for 2 weeks, The white mulberries are just getting going ( but they are just too sweet to eat) and the gooseberries are just about done. Unfortunately the yields this year are not enough to make jam or pies but the fruit does seem bigger after the hard winter!

[white eagle]

lots of rain here accounts for the masses I am seeing this season

[dale2242]

We had decent crop of red raspberries in the garden. They are gone now.
We will going out picking blackcaps when it gets daylight this morning.
We picked a couple of days ago until it got too hot. There appears to be a bumper crop
We need to get them before the bears do.
The wild blackberries aren`t quite ripe yet. .......dale

[white eagle]

question on Blackberries do they grow on the ground?(vine) I have a berry the we think is bb but are unsure

[attrapereves]

question on Blackberries do they grow on the ground?(vine) I have a berry the we think is bb but are unsure

Sometimes the bushes can be tall, sometimes they are only 1 or 2 feet tall. I used to pick them in my parents backyard and those bushes were only about 2 feet off the ground, but very wide.

[Blammer]

2 gallons of blueberries, Pies and jam are made.
3 pounds of blackberries, jam is in the works as well as a pie. :)

[country gent]

I had been watching the mullberry tree in the back yard when mowing. Yesterday I mowed figuring it would be about time to pick some for a snack the next couple nights. Birds have already ate them all that could be reached.

[MaryB]

Few more raspberries tonight, picnic beetles are getting a lot of the ripe ones

[Bad Water Bill]

I guess I am going to have to check out some spots back deep in the woods for black berries.

Then again there is a farm with plenty of blueberries for you to pick FOR A FEE of course.:sad:

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My wild black razberries are picked now...I've been picking them each evening for the last week...I yielded about 4 lbs.

this photo taken 7-15-2014, just a few left to pick.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/BlkRazberrybushesduringpickingBerries_zps111950c4. jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/BlkRazberrybushesduringpickingBerries_zps111950c4. jpg.html)


Today after I pruned out last years canes and cleaned up this years canes for next years berries :)
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/BlkRazberrybushes3dayslaterafterpruning_zpsa610826 3.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/BlkRazberrybushes3dayslaterafterpruning_zpsa610826 3.jpg.html)


A trailer load of prunings...and some of my blood :(
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/BlkRazberrycanesandsomeofmyblood_zpsdee8640f.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/BlkRazberrycanesandsomeofmyblood_zpsdee8640f.jpg.h tml)


I also had my first picking of Gooseberries, yeilded 12 lbs
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/Gooseberriesfirstpicking12lbsyeild_zps92943ab8.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/Gooseberriesfirstpicking12lbsyeild_zps92943ab8.jpg .html)


Still lots more hanging.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/Goosberrybushafterpicking12lbsofberries_zpsd05f0c6 7.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/Goosberrybushafterpicking12lbsofberries_zpsd05f0c6 7.jpg.html)

[JWFilips]

Oh! Your gooseberries make me jealous! Mine ripen red & are good for a few pies ( If my wife is so inclined) Yours can make pies for the year it seems!

But in the past few years I make a tart spicy sauce from them to serve with grilled meats. Sort of like Jamaican Jerk meets goose berry goo! It is excellent. Got the idea when I made a failed attempt at a Gooseberry Chutney that was too runny.......... ................."I like it a bit runny!" from M.P.F.C.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've made gooseberry hard cider.
AND
Beet wine with Gooseberry...I'm famous for my recipe of this with my homebrew buddies.
AND
Jam...when I make jam with the wild black razberries, I use 50% gooseberries, they have so much natural pectin, that I don't need to add store bought...and it really stretches out the wild black razberries as I only grow the few shown above...and it doesn't really change the flavor.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Here is a link to my famous Beet wine with gooseberries.
http://www.jackofallbrews.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1208

[JWFilips]

Yes That's How I arrived at my Meat Sauce! Gooseberries get nice & thick Lots of Pectin.

Now can you tell me what I can make out of "White Mulberries"? They are sickeningly sweet to eat raw but some how in my humble mind I'm thinking some sort of femmented beverage!!! Lost of critters after them but I still have plenty!

[DougGuy]

My thornless blackberries are almost done, down to about a dozen berries every day or two but man oh man, they were LOADED this year, AS WAS the black raspberries! We put up several quarts of both, we made wild blackberry jam and wild blackberry pancake syrup with a couple gallons of wild berries we picked 2 summers ago, VERY intense flavor, perfect to use for jam or jelly or pancake syrup. Which is EXCELLENT on ice cream too!

[Bad Water Bill]

In the 70s my wife steam juiced our rhubarb.

All of the berries currants and grapes received a generous portion of the rhubarb juice when making jelly.

The wife passed away in 1980 BUT there are still a few jars of great jelly left and no there was never a hint of the rhubarb flavor in any of her jams.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Now can you tell me what I can make out of "White Mulberries"? They are sickeningly sweet to eat raw

I've never heard of a mulberries...they must not grow in MN ?

[MaryB]

rare in MN neighbor has a re mulberry tree. http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/mulberry/

[bubba.50]

due to long winter, rainy spring, then a mini-drought blackberries few & far between this year & ya hafta fight the Japanese beetles for those. red raspberries finally came in about a week ago. get about 1/2 an ice-cream bucket every couple days. used to get 2 full buckets a day before the farmer who owns the land bulldozed everything to put in a new fence but the 1/2 buckets are an improvement over last year.

White Eagle : the black berries that grow on low vines close to the ground are called dewberries around here. usually bigger & ssweeter than blackberries.

[bubba.50]

I lived in Maryland when I was a kid & all I ever saw anyone use mulberries for was carp bait.

[WRideout]

I've made gooseberry hard cider.
AND
Beet wine with Gooseberry...I'm famous for my recipe of this with my homebrew buddies.

I tried making beet wine out of the canned, no-salt added beets. The taste rather resembled dirt. I'm sure it turns out different the way you make it.

Wayne

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

YEP, I will admit, Beet wine is very 'earthy' no doubt.
If you make the wine with Beet's as the only 'flavor' ingredient, it takes about 18 months for the earthiness to settle down and then wine becomes much more drinkable, reminiscent of a pinot noir.

My first attempt in adding a adjunct, was using Lime juice, lime Zest and raisins. That helped alot. When I added gooseberries, I was much happier with the result, it was probably the pectin adding some body. bottom line is, I feel beet wine needs some tartness/acidity to overcome the earthiness.

[tygar]

Just got thru grazing my way past my big patch of red rasberries, must have eaten a quart, then walked by a patch of blackberries for desert.

[WRideout]

YEP, I will admit, Beet wine is very 'earthy' no doubt.
If you make the wine with Beet's as the only 'flavor' ingredient, it takes about 18 months for the earthiness to settle down and then wine becomes much more drinkable, reminiscent of a pinot noir.

My first attempt in adding a adjunct, was using Lime juice, lime Zest and raisins. That helped alot. When I added gooseberries, I was much happier with the result, it was probably the pectin adding some body. bottom line is, I feel beet wine needs some tartness/acidity to overcome the earthiness.

I have read that some of the "country" type wines do need a fair bit of aging to be drinkable. Thanks for the tip, though.

Wayne

[Bullwolf]

This is what happened to the blackberries last year.

Coyotes got to the blackberries before I managed to pick any.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=111895&d=1406527268




- Bullwolf

[Pb2au]

I've never heard of a mulberries...they must not grow in MN ?

Down here, mulberries are dark purple. The trees are quite virulent, as it seems they will sprout and grow pretty much anywhere. You can always tell when the mulberries are on as cars get covered in purple bird poo!
As for white mulberries, I have never seen that strain down here.

[dale2242]

The wife got 3 gallons of wild blackcap juice before the bear got into them.
We see bear, coyote, and fox scat full of berries.
Went out and checked on the wild blackberries yesterday and the bear beat us to our favorite patch.
Bear season opens Friday Aug 1.....dale

[HodakaGA]

Yesterday I moved 3 gallons of blackberry wine to the secondary from the primary. Looked and smelled great. In a few weeks I'll pull it off the lees and bulk age for about 6 months before bottling. I have enough berries in the freezer to do another 3 gallon batch.

I make a Blackberry Merlot, slightly off-dry. Very nice. I use 5 frozen 1 gallon bags of berries to a batch, or about 20 lbs.

My berry supplier has several more gallons of berries for me plus a couple of gallons of raspberries. looking for some blueberries to do a mix batch with the raspberries.

[fastfire]

112681Been getting these for 3 weeks now.

[quilbilly]

The big blackberries just started ripening here around Hood Canal. We picked our first of the season yesterday - 1/2 gallon in 20 minutes. We had the first cobbler this evening. Wonderful. In three weeks it will be time for alpine huckleberries. MMMMM

[reloader28]

I LOVE huckleberries.

Neighbor called a couple days ago. The chokecherries are ripe for picking and we got to go get them. Its a race to beat the grizzlies.
I'm going to get about 100lbs for wine.

[Loudenboomer]

We picked nearly 2 qts. wild raspberry's last weekend on my hunting land by lake of the woods last weekend. Enjoyed them after a wonderful out door pork steak dinner with my elderly parents. Filed that good memory away for keeps.

[quilbilly]

Has anybody ever picked serviceberries? What are they like. Last year during NCBS in Winnemucca, NV the wife and I were camped in the nearby mountains and there were serviceberries blooming everywhere. If they are any good, I might just make a trip in summer to get some (along with some extra CB shooting, of course).

[woodsxdragon]

I've got a gallon of blueberry and black raspberry wine about to go into bulk aging and another 2-3lbs of each in the freezer.