Jul

Great Berry Crop – Time to Break Out the Reliable Old Recipes

John on July 25th, 2008

It has been raining, pouring, or something in between for the last ten days and promises to do so for another week (despite today’s sunny blue morning – we had a very nice cold front move through at dinnertime last night). I know this has something to do with the good berry harvest this year, but I suspect it is a bit more complicated than that. We have had a good combination of temperature, sun and rain since the blossoms appeared, and these have all contributed in one way or another.

A week ago we were out and found some nice blueberries, but most were not ripe yet. Yesterday, despite the rain, we went out into the woods again to a great spot we know, and I was flabbergasted. The berries were better than I have seen in at least 5 years.

The berry season around here is fairly continuous, and goes something like this: Wild Strawberries for a few weeks in June; Red Raspberries in early July, with the Black Raspberries a week or so behind; Blueberries, depending on the elevation, from mid June to August; finally, Blackberries appear in mid August and last until after the first frost – I have picked them into late September. This year the only disappointment so far has been the rather sparse strawberry crop. There is one spot in our woods, a mossy little glade, that offers the best wild strawberries year after year. I so not know why this one spot is so different, as it seems no different than all the other spots sporting thousands or strawberry plants. Whatever the reason, though, this is the spot that will have hundreds of berries at a time when we are lucky to find 5 or ten together anywhere else.

So we have two gallons of blueberries, and the raspberries are still coming in by the pint if we bother to pick them. So what to do withthem all other than eat them by the handful? I will post some of my perennial favorite recipes soon: the best pie, pancakes, muffins and cakes, along with anything else that I remember.

And the Blackberries are teasing us, not yet ripe but green and plump with anticipation.