millions for free

lyniced

Merlin139 wrote:

Some people just don't have the time.

The reason I won't go and pick Blackberries is because when I was 12 and living in Dorset I went with my mum and trying to get as far into a bush as I could and I put my foot on a Adder. The thing was about 4 feet long and it bit me. Had to be rushed to hospital very quickly. That was a day I will never forget.

I am happy to pay for them to go into my Blackberry and Apple pies. I do however pick Apples for free when I can get them.

I was brought up in Dorset too and nearly trod on an adder whilst out in the New Forest - one of the hazards of living on the south coast I guess. By the way I don't pick blackberries now, because I have MS, so its good that Tesco sell them.

mcarthural

We've trained the ones the council missed over the fence at the bottom of the garden - free fruit and good security too - try getting through that!

£2 saved £4 I've only just started!

rustyscrew

"Due to pollution from traffic we are quite limited to where we can get them..." - Welsh-Dragon
Question: Is it the ones along the motor way that one should avoid? Cheers

Savvy_Sue

rustyscrew wrote:

"Due to pollution from traffic we are quite limited to where we can get them..." - Welsh-Dragon
Question: Is it the ones along the motor way that one should avoid? Cheers

Not just motorways, avoid any beside busy roads. If on a quiet road, go for higher rather than lower ones!

And for aligandalf, Blackberry on Wikipedia. Don't pull them off if they're not ready to come easily: the looser they are the sweeter they are, IYSWIM.

A walking stick with a crooked handle is very useful for getting them, and full body armour is recommended. Need to cut them back in the garden before they take someone's eye out!

but what I was wondering is, when I was young, blackberries were an autumn thing, weren't they? Not August, surely? And I was only living in London, so it's not as if I was 'oop north or anywhere funny like that ...

Iso

As well as blackberries, mushrooms and walnuts we also pick raspberries, blueberries, hazelnuts and chestnuts. Used to pick spinach and samphire on the sea wall. Young nettles (about 6" high) make very good soup, wild garlic nice alternative pesto or soup.

Revenge_of_the_Red_Devil

We had an apple tree and blackberries in our old house garden. Rented it out, the tennants cut the tree down and hacked the blackberry bush away :mad:!

schoolfundraiser

rustyscrew wrote:

"Due to pollution from traffic we are quite limited to where we can get them..." - Welsh-Dragon
Question: Is it the ones along the motor way that one should avoid? Cheers

To be serious I think the pollution free zone is 25m from the road certainly in towns. Wash them anyway.

Or just feed the birds who will plant little ones for you in your garden which can be dug up while young and trained along the wall or fence to act as a burglar deterrent. It has been a bit dry this year in our area so all the fruits are a bit small so far.

You could of course plant a thornless blackberry in your garden. My dad is very pleased with his Oregon Thornless which has quite attractive leaves and very big fruits. Don't know how they taste yet - the other thornless blackberry of unknown type was very sour last week :rotfl: although looked ripe - definitely one for cooking with lots of sugar - tasted like a gooseberry.

susiesue_2

i always berry pick on cannock chase, what else is there apart from the blackberries? i would hate to miss out on anything. lol

Savvy_Sue

Well, I am bruised, scratched to bits, blue-fingered, with an aching back and arms. Oh, and our new 'green bin' (large wheelie bin for garden refuse) is almost full from where I've hacked back the unproductive bits, after only being emptied this morning! I had visions at a few stages of falling over INTO the blackberries as I stretched for them!

But we have a very large bowl of blackberries (just from the garden) and I suspect there's plenty more where they came from, given time. :j Not quite sure what I'm going to do with them all ... not a great jam maker, might just eat them raw until they start to soften too much, at which point we'll stew. I've got three apples from the garden, but they're not very good ...

Another thing that confuses me, I can understand that blackberries facing the sun for most of the day would ripen quicker than blackberries not so happily situated - but why are the best and juiciest ones hidden so deep within the brier patch?

comicmankev

The best thing I saw last year was a man picking an apple from a tree then eating it. 4 Young girls were screaming at him and saying how disgusting it was that he had eating a 'dirty apple'.

Seriously, what is the world coming too!