Foothill Foraging

It's the middle of July and for a lot of areas in the county that means wild berries are starting to ripen. Some see wild berry bramble's as an awful invasive weed, I see them as free food. As far as invasive weeds go I haven't tasted star-thistle but I'm willing to bet they taste much worse. We happen to have a fairly good sized berry bramble behind our fence. On a recent afternoon my wife and I spent a little over an hour picking berries we ended up with several pounds of them. In very little time you can fill as basket large or as small as you like. The best part (or worse if you own the property) is there everywhere, just waiting for some happy bloke to come along a feast upon them. Look a little closer next time you are driving down a foothill road and I shouldn't take long to spot some. Recently on a mountain bike ride I filled up a water bottle with them on a 5 min break. There is a technique to picking them pain free, I haven't the slightest idea how I do it though. I have zero scratches on my hands and arms while my wife appears to have gotten in a fight with a box of razor blades. I don't know what we did differentially but clearly my way was a bit better. We made some homemade blackberry jam with them and I also makes a great topping to some vanilla ice-cream.  My lovely wife will be posting the directions a recipe for that goodness.

Himalayan Blackberries ready to be picked

Berry Foraging Items One Might Want

• Long pants and shirt (the thicker the better and they will get stained)
• Multiple storage containers
• Boots
• Hand pruners ( helps cutting paths deeper into the bramble)
• rubber dipped gloves ( I don't use them but it certainly could help)

Good example of what the larger plant looks like.

Random Funny Kid Story

Kids really do pay attention to much more than some give them credit.  While running errands recently my oldest starts singing along to "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses. When asked what she's doing she replies " getting down with my bad self dad, oh and I'm playing the drums too". The rest of our day was spent listening to G and  R at her request. Later in the evening my wife asks me why is Kaelin singing "the girls run crazy"? The good news is she sings about as well as Axle so if hair bands ever make a comeback look out!