Blackberries

If there is one place in the garden where we have looked with the most hope and anticipation, it is near the blackberry bushes. Both my wife and love those black, sweet soft-fruits. We've tried one or two a while ago that had a slight hint of blackness, but that was predictably disappointing. The other day when we were in the garden, there were lots of deep dark blackberries, and some careful and repeated tasting revealed they were read for harvest!

We collected close to 2 kilo (4 lbs.), about a third of that got either eaten immediately, on the way home or during desert. It still left

me with 1.3 kilos,

which I turned, with tremendous pleasure into a great marmalade. I made it the French way this time, taking the whole fruits, and after washing them adding the same amount of sugar and left it overnight at a relatively cool place. The next morning I cooked it slowly for about two hours with regular stirring.

It made 7 posts.... though when I wanted to make the photo I noticed one went AWOL already. I doubt the others will last very long.

There are still some blackberries ripening on the plants, both barbed and non-barbed, but not great amounts. I still hope to collect about 1 kilo (2 lbs.), but try a recipe I have seen for blackberry-peach marmalade. That sounds interesting and I would be very pleased to give it a try. I am not sure where I would obtain the peaches; we have got quite a few peach trees on the farm in France that seem to have lots o peaches this year -- but those won't be ready until September. So I can either freeze the blackberries for now and wait for our peaches, or buy some peaches at the local fruit & vegetable shop. Waiting until September would probably be the best, because we would use our own fruits -- just, I doubt whether I'll have the patience.

With our love for blackberries in mind, I am trying to set up a second stop in the garden with a couple of plants, that should double our potential harvest next year.