Monday, April 30, 2012

RED WHITE AND DEWBERRIES


Some unripe, red Dewberries, some ripe dark blue/black ones, and some white flowers.  I thought it was such a pretty combination of colors.

I picked another couple of buckets full of dewberries yesterday, and after last weekend's picking party, we have quite a large stash in the freezer.





Here is a bowl that we put berries in when we ran out of space in the the buckets.  This bowl was actually filled up twice...






...and then I filled this "berry bucket", not once, not twice, but FIVE times.  There are 8 cups of berries in one bucket!

Look closely at this picture, this is what a ripe, ready patch of Dewberries look like.  See all of those little purple/black beauties?  They are ready to be picked.   There are a few red 'stragglers' that aren't ripe yet so we may squeeze out one more weekend of berry gathering, fingers crossed.

I'll show you later in the week how we prepped them and got them all in the freezer.  Of course, throughout the year, there will be an occasional pop up 'berry recipe', since we like to hoard these for use all year long.

After all, it IS another year long wait for more!

14 comments:

  1. visualize me drooling over all those berries! YUM!

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  2. One of my favorite recipes:

    Berry Syrup

    2-1/2 cups berry juice ( I use blackberries. Heat and mash the berries, then strain through several layers of cheesecloth)

    3 cups sugar
    1/2 cup corn syrup
    1 tablespoon lemon juice

    Combine all ingredients. Bring to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and pour into sterilized pint jars. Cover with lids and jar rings and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

    Sometimes the natural pectin is so high the syrup actually jells....then you have really good berry jelly!

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    Replies
    1. Awesome recipe! And I love that it "might" become jelly too!! OK, I have to ask one question though. You mentioned 2 1/2 cups berry juice, do you know about how many blackberries that took to get, roughly? And about how many pint jars do you get out of it? I know I know, 20 questions...

      THANKS!!!! As always!

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    2. Oh dear, it's been ages since I made it (we don't have blackberries near us, and don't travel to where they do any more). I guess I'd have to say lots and not very many, in that order LOL!

      I found this recipe for blackberry juice, so I'd follow it to get about 2 cups of juice...just add a few more and bit more water for the 2 1/2 cups. A rough guess at how much it makes.... I'd make a double batch and bet it would make about 3 1/2 pints.

      2 quarts fresh blackberries
      1/2 cup water
      Preparation

      Bring blackberries and water to a boil in a 3-quart saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until blackberries are soft.
      Mash blackberries with a potato masher or fork; pour through a large wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, using the back of a spoon to squeeze out the juice. Discard the pulp and seeds.
      Southern Living
      JULY 2005

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  3. Berries already! Lucky you!
    BTW-Outdoor tubs--Maryjane's Outpost Book has the directions and suggestions for heating the clawfoot tubs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, we are very lucky, and they'll be gone for a year in about another week or so, ha.

      THANK YOU for the info on the book for the tubs, I will check that out, awesome!!!!

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  4. love that bucket...
    things are rather more dirty over here in grubby wales

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    Replies
    1. Ha, thanks. Do you know that bucket is a paint bucket, I got at Home Depot? It was only $1.89. The metal is a bit thin, but it did the job. Hey, check back in a few seasons and lets see what the bucket looks like then, LOL!

      Thanks for stopping by, as always!!

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  5. I know it must seem like a lot of work at the moment. . .but oh so worth it!

    Janice
    FaceBook.com/ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You read my mind. I was looking at it all and thinking 'wow, is there enough time in the day?'. Ha. But it will be worth it eventually, I know it! Thanks for your kind words!!

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  6. We have mulberry trees here, Sunday they were just begining to ripen. I hope they hold off until tomorrow or Thursday so I can get some picked. I am going to order Loganberry plants. They sound so great!

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    Replies
    1. Do you know, I can honestly say I've never eaten a mulberry? Are they good? What do they taste like? I'd just love some berries of all kinds growing all over the place, ha.

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  7. I've never heard of dewberries before. MUST GOOGLE!

    ReplyDelete

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