Allotments 4 All

Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: dandelion on August 01, 2006, 21:20:19

Title: blackberries...
Post by: dandelion on August 01, 2006, 21:20:19
...are very early this season. Picked 4 kilos today and made lots of jam :)!
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Yuet_Lee on August 01, 2006, 21:39:56
Wow wow wow! I love blackberries. I must have to get some plants for next year!
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Curryandchips on August 01, 2006, 22:33:07
I am off next week, so hope to get some wine on the go, and freeze any more that I can harvest.
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: dandelion on August 01, 2006, 23:09:57
Quote from: Yuet_Lee on August 01, 2006, 21:39:56
Wow wow wow! I love blackberries. I must have to get some plants for next year!

I don't grow them! I consider them a weed on my plot, but I'm happy to pick the ones that grow all around the allotment boundary ;D!
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: mc55 on August 01, 2006, 23:15:52
I took some home with me last night and made apple and blackberry crumble ... yum, yum, yum !
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on August 01, 2006, 23:39:04
I'm starting to pick a few on the lane going down to the site. The canal across the railway is the place for blackberries.
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: saddad on August 02, 2006, 09:37:55
I have a Fantasia which is really fantastic but miss my Sylvan (Himalayan Giant) that I had at the old house... does anybody know if it is still in circulation in any of the cats.
::)
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Tora on August 02, 2006, 10:45:43
There is a big brumble bush in my plot. I haven't managed to cultivate the whole plot yet and the bush is in the uncultivated bit. I'm really tempted to leave it, because the berries I picked other day were gorgoues! I ate most of them fresh but am going to make a blackberry crumble cake today. :P
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Money_Bunny on August 02, 2006, 10:49:38
Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on August 01, 2006, 23:39:04
I'm starting to pick a few on the lane going down to the site.

We've been doing the same, keeps the kids occupied for ages.
Lots of redcurrants, blackcurrants, raspberries and blackberries growing in the lanes..............just a shame the gooseberries are out of reach  :-\
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: wattapain on August 02, 2006, 11:38:12
Quote from: mc55 on August 01, 2006, 23:15:52
I took some home with me last night and made apple and blackberry crumble ... yum, yum, yum !


Snap - haven't been tto the lottie for a while, what with hols etc and, while cursing those d**n brambles, I picked 1 lb of the berries and we had crumble for pud. Yum - they are certainly early, but the early ones always taste best imo
Terri
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: Robert_Brenchley on August 02, 2006, 12:53:55
I find they vary a lot, both in sweetness and in berry size. Botanically, there is a confused mass of ill-defined species which interbreed constantly. If you're planning to grow them on your plot, the best approach, if you don't wish to buy plants, is to take cuttings from the best you can find locally. Of course, if you've inherited a bush, it's possible that a previous plotholder may have done exactly this before you.
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: moonbells on August 02, 2006, 14:23:28
Quote from: saddad on August 02, 2006, 09:37:55
I have a Fantasia which is really fantastic but miss my Sylvan (Himalayan Giant) that I had at the old house... does anybody know if it is still in circulation in any of the cats.
::)

Hang on. You WANT Himalayan Giant??? In that case I'll tip root one for you - I have this amazing prickly thug in my lottie! (Oddly, so does everyone else...)

I love Bob Flowerdew's comment on it - that it would stop a tank in its tracks!

moonbells
Title: Re: blackberries...
Post by: tricia on August 02, 2006, 15:03:32
We've just been down the lane to a nearby field and returned with 3 1/5 kg of the most luscious, huge blackberries I have ever garnered from this particular area. Shame I have to go out  or I would be using my pressure cooker to extract the juice for making bramble jelly right now.

Tricia