Nestled in the back of the garden of the house I grew up in was a very old raspberry bush. From year to year the amount of raspberries it yielded would vary, but one thing was for sure, they were as sweet as sweet could be. So you can see how easily I was drawn to the wild blackberry bushes on my recent trip to the Northwest. They are practically everywhere! We found these beauties on the side of the road, loads and loads of them!
It was one of those perfect unplanned summer adventures. Thorns and a lack of practical gathering equipment mattered little compared to the sweet and perfectly juicy berries that stained our hands a deep shade of purple.
On par with the sweetness of the berries was that of time we were sharing. We were all little kids again, reaching through the masses of berries to get the one that looked just perfect, all the while getting snagged in the thorns. It was completely wonderful.
We picked enough berries to make two whole cobblers, and probably ate the same amount while picking!
And best of all? We barely tapped into the massive stores those bushes had to offer. Many people in the area refer to these yummy berry bushes as weeds because of their precociousness, but to a fresh blackberry deprived girl from Colorado, these berries were a passport to the backyard of my childhood.
~ Jordan
*Last time in Nature: When Pigs Swim
