Blackberry Farmer

I've decided to quit my job and become a blackberry farmer. Okay. Not really, but I could. We have this hill behind our house, and to the sides of our house. We don't use it for much, other than walking up when Josh wants to check for deer on the top of the hill. And blocking the house from wind. This is our 6th summer of living in this house. And sadly, only the 2nd summer that we've been aware that there are blackberry brambles upon blackberry bushes covering our back hill. There's really no excuse for us not knowing, so I like to pretend that these blackberry bushes miraculously sprouted there 2 years ago. Even worse, this is the first year we've picked more than enough for one pie.

This year I've picked probably 3 gallons myself, and friends have picked a couple of gallons. It makes me sad to picture the blackberries drying up and not getting used. So far I've made 15 jars of blackberry jam, a blackberry pie, blackberry bars, and frozen 2 bags of blackberries. I have another probably 3-4 bags of blackberries to be frozen in the fridge yet.

There's just something about picking berries. It's completely miserable with the swarms of mosquitos, pricker bushes upon prickly bushes, and the heat (oh how I hate wearing blue jeans in the summer). But there's just something about watching your bowl fill up and thinking of all the delicious things you could make with the berries. The finished product isn't bad either.