I went to Greig Farm again today, and picked some more blueberries, and something called a bloodberry - never heard of them before. Overheard in the blueberry field, from a few rows over, mother and two small children:
"Oh Momma, I've wanted to go picking blueberries for a long long time, and here we are! I thought it was impossible!" A few seconds later, in a very small voice, "I thought it would be fun."
"Momma, can I eat one?" "Yes, but not too many." "Mmmmm. This IS fun!"
"Momma, it's not at ALL scary in the forest. Here I am in the forest and it's not scary AT ALL!" [Forest??? That one brought my head up!]
Singing, "Here we are picking blueberries, picking blueberries in the forest, yummy tummy berries, all day long..."
"Momma, why do they call them blueberries?" "Because they're berries, and they're blue." "But Momma, if you rub the blue off, they're black."
That little family left, pies promised, and another arrived. A minivan with serious digestive problems (including a shot muffler) pulled into the field and disgorged what sounded like a horde of huns. The driver may have been afraid it wouldn't restart, because the van was left running for a very long time. Loud. Smelly. The kids shouted and whistled constantly as they moved down the rows - that ear-twisting shwreeee that kids do when they're just learning to whistle. I felt my back tightening, and was about to warn the kids that ...um... whistling ...um...attracts snakes, yeah, that's it, "They feel the vibrations and think it's a bunch of mice" (sounds better than "If you keep doing that I will strangle you!"), when things got more interesting.
"Mom, can I eat one?" "No. Not with the skins on." [Huh? I had to think about that a bit.]
A few seconds later, "Mom! Billy ate one!" "Open your mouth! Open your mouth! Show me your mouth!" Yelps and some strangling sounds. From off to the right, "What's wrong? Did something happen? What's wrong with Billy?" "Oh, nothing. He ate a berry, so Mom's making him throw it up." [I almost choked on my mouthful of berries!]
I picked about three pounds of blueberries, and then moved on to the "bloodberry" patch (as in "What's ready today?" "Blueberries and bloodberries." "Bloodberries? Those canes over there? They look like blackberries." "Yeah. That's them. Bloodberries.") I love blackberries, so I headed for what looked like the blackberries. Up close, they lost almost all similarity to any blackberries I'd ever seen. They are put together the same, but they are huge! If you make a circle with your thumb and forefinger, these things are almost that size. Any that were any smaller weren't "fully packed" and fell apart in your hand (which meant they had to be eaten immediately, of course). They don't taste like blackberries, either. They taste like wine! Sweet red wine, like sangria wine. ("Sangria" means "blood". I wonder if there's any connection.) They grow on stickery canes like blackberries, but blackberry leaves are relatively simple, and light green. These leaves are almost like grape leaves, rusty red-green, with pointed lobes, and the canes have fewer (and softer) stickers. I picked about half a pail, and then the thunder in the distance became lightening flashes over the hill, so I paid and left.
I like these bloodberries, whatever they are. I'll go back for more in a few days. (But I am still left with a blackberry hunger.)
1 comment:
I picked the LAST of our blueberries TODAY (about a quarter cup). The house we're buying for retirement living had six large bushes at the back of the lot (about 8' high and 6' in diameter).
Two years ago I trimmed them in readiness for the fall. My renter said he wanted to help with yardwork but I said, "NO!" But he insisted, so I said he could cut back, dig out or otherwise kill the barberry that was growing on the other end of the lot. In no way was he to touch the roses, the raspberries or the blueberries.
Two weeks later I discovered he "trimmed" the blueberries and tore out two of the bushes. They were cut back so hard that they did not produce fruit last year at all ... not even blossoms. The two uprooted bushes were transplanted to our daughter's and our back yards. Both grew (thankfully) but neither produced fruit 'till this year.
In all we got maybe a quart of berries this year from the six bushes.
By the way ... the barberries were NEVER touched. I transplanted the roses (most of which did not fare well last winter) and the raspberries (which survived better than the renter who has since moved out ... and subsequently been kicked out of the next place he rented).
I tried to look up bloodberry on the Net ... nothing about edible plants.
Re: the business of eating blueberries with the skins on??? I have two possible scenarios. 1- the particular kid doesn't do well with high fiber in his/her diet. And 2- the mother only knows to make jelly with blueberries.
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