Foraged Blackberries

We are fortunate enough to live near a wonderful neighborhood park.  There is a vast prairie area filled with black-eyed Susans, queen Anne's lace, milkweed, compass flower, and purple aster.  The redwing blackbirds like to hang out atop the delicate prairie grasses, chirping at us as we walk by. 



The park also has beautiful woodlands in the center- mostly oak and walnut. 

But all along the edge of the woods and all along the edge of the prairie are tangles of wild blackberry bushes, that offer the tartest, juiciest berries in the summer.

They start off as surprisingly red, standing out from afar as you hike.  Then, as they ripen, they become a beautiful purplish black and nearly fall off the branch into your hands.

 

The bushes don't give up their berries without a fight, though!  Not only are their thorns along the branches, but the leaves are also prickly, and when wading through the branches to reach the best berries, your clothes will be tugged and torn by the thorns!  Sometimes it's hard to extricate yourself from their clutches, but we all must suffer for glory, and these berries are really glorious!

Foraging is really neat in that it always makes me feel like a true critter of the earth, finding sustenance as nature intended and interacting with the world around me.

Here are some of the berries that we brought home after our most recent walk in the park. 

Perhaps there's a special berry spot near you?
~Mersydotes