The blackberry thicket in our backyard is covered with white flowers, and humming with life, as bees and butterflies visit the flowers, doing their work of food gathering and pollinating.
I use the word “Thicket” because it is a true bramble patch, six feet tall and about twelve feet square. These are volunteer brambles with such juicy, sweet berries that we keep the patch there.
It requires no watering or feeding or spraying so is a sanctuary for our wild visitors. The center of the berry patch is so thick, and protected so well by savage thorns, that we know birds and small furry critters safely make their homes there.
The only work I do with the berries, beyond picking them which is fun, is when I don heavy leather work gloves and long handled pruning shears, and snip off invasive canes that are crowding our Nix Creeper rose, our fence or our sweet peas.
All in all, the blackberries are a welcome boon in the hot days of summer.
12 comments:
What a beautiful blog you have! Thank you for stopping by my "place." Yes, I am on the CWO blogroll - at least I was last time I checked! Looking forward to browsing through your archives even more.
Terra, I've added your blog to the CWO blogroll today. I tried sending you a note, but it bounced back. I don't know why I didn't seem to get an email from you in the first place. Sorry about that!
Anyway, you're on now. Welcome!
I LOVE Blackberries!!! I had to pick alot of those when I was a youngster. My Mom made alot of blackberry preserves and frozen them too. As a reward for picking so many we always got a yummy blackberry cobbler. Thanks for bringing back memories.
xoxooxoxooxoxoxoxo
we had wonderful "thickets" of blackberries across from our house when i was growing up. they were so prolific my sister and i would spend days making blackberry pies, jams, crumbles and eating them fresh out of the bowl---mmmm! good memories.
thanks for stopping by my blog "seedstories". its good to meet other bloggers.
gail
loved reading ur blog.been at the website of ur book to be published.i'm sure its gonna b a wonderful book.have to wait till september?hmm...
Just thinking about those juicy berries makes my mouth water! My sister has a thicket planted at her house too. It surrounds their rather archaic (but still operative) septic system, which is a lagoon. You can imagine just how enormous those berries are. I'm glad I found your blog. Thanks again for stopping by mine.
Oh, I would welcome them too. Yummy!!
This post makes me yearn for some blackberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream.
I better not succumb to this longing, or my ever-expanding bohunkus will be too wide to fit through the door.
That briar patch sounds lovely. I'm glad you've got strong gloves for whenever you need to battle it into submission.
Hi Terra! Thanks for visiting my blog:o) I hope you come back very soon :o)
Beautiful photo!
Blackberries! What memories that brings back of summers at my grandparents.
Hi Terra,
Thanks for stopping to visit! I must admit, I'm quite envious of your growing climate. Here in Minnesota, it seems like the growing season is almost over before it starts. I have lots of hardy perennials so I can enjoy my garden even if I don't get my annuals into the ground right away.
But your post about blackberries reminds me of the huge mulberries my mom used to grow in our backyard in Colorady when I was growing up. They got just as black as blackberries, and they were as sweet as a sugar cube. Mmmm!
Congrats on getting published, by the way. That's fantastic. I have a book in my future, too, I hope. I see it in my dreams. :)
Hi Terra, nice to know your blog, and thanks for visiting mine.
It was quite interesting to read your post, because we do everything to keep brambles out of our gardens! They grow everywhere in the wild here, and they are quite invasive, although not ecologically dangerous because they are native. So, we enjoy blackberries, but we don't like brambles so much.
Greetings from Portugal!
How fortunate you are to have a blackberry thicket. I love blackberries and I love seeing their blossoms as well!
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