Brambles: Have you ever been caught up in brambles as you walk? They have the best defence in the wild, scratchy and painful they say do not touch. They will wind themselves around you, hiding the juiciest blackberry in the heart of the bush, you always feel triumphant after a blackberry picking day.
They are the harvest of September, dire warnings after that, the devil has spat on them and they become inedible. A more prosaic answer is that the flies are laying eggs, to turn into maggots on them.
Blackberries stew in the pot their rich dark colour suddenly emphasised by the sparkling white of the sugar poured into them. Slow staining of the sugar as it melts and then gloop, gloop the soft volcanic rising of bubbles, till that moment of testing. Take a white saucer and a spoon, dribble a little of the mixture onto the saucer, cool slightly and then either blow or drag a spoon gently over, if it wrinkles you have jam ;)
I planted a cultivated blackberry at Church House, a friend came along and said why did you not plant a thornless one? And so each time I collected the bountiful supply of blackberries, coming away scratched I would remember her words. But then I would remember the times those long snaky tendrils have whipped round my clothes ensnaring me till picked off. I remember my terrified horse as a hornet buzzed her in Epping Forest how she dived into a thicket of brambles for protection. Or Moss who managed to lose his precious ball in another thicket. So I bravely went in with him behind me, and I got stuck but laughed at my predicament.
They are the most prolific things you will find in the countryside in the untidy parts. Long may they rule and provide food and cover for our lesser creatures and when ever you curse them, remember the bounty they bring as well.
All this was sparked by Jackie Morris's journal entrance today and the song 'Bramble'. I cannot straight link to the Youtube version but you will find the link in the blog if you scroll down. As she chalks a bramble vine onto the gray stone, fall in love with the freshness of the flower, and then the beaded nature of the fruit.
We planted a cultivateed blackberry in our veggie garden at the farm. It was alwayc covered in blossom but never bore a single fruit.
ReplyDeleteMine would produces a thick briar each year Pat which was always difficult to get too cut. But it always had plenty of fruit.
DeleteThey creep wild into our garden from the neighbour's uncultivated jungle because we are south east of her. What with that and holly, it's a constant battle.
ReplyDeleteHolly takes forever to grow, do you mean the bush grows, plenty to cut for Xmas. I always used to see Nelson at the back of the garden fence, cutting the holly to take to market. He thought we could not see him but we could, trespassing on our lord of the manor's patch ;)
DeleteWant to bet! It's eight feet high and ten feet wide, and even if I hack it back two feet beyond the boundary (she can't see through it) it starts to encroach into our space by July.
DeleteIt's happy ;)
DeleteThere's bramble and blackberry. Our neighbour had brambles that constantly invaded our property - all thorns and No.8 wire, and no real fruit. Blackberries have rich canes and the lucious fruit you describe (and, yes, thorns). Our allotment had blackberries in the hedge. Their roots would invade our carefully cuĺtivated soil and push up more canes. The thornless one we planted at the house was absolutely loaded - kilos and kilos of fruit every year.
ReplyDeleteI think we should be grateful for blackberries, late eating for the birds and easy enough to store in a freezer. Their aggressive behaviour is a protection of course and they are very successful at it.
DeleteMy brambleless planting produced inferior berries for one year, then died.
ReplyDeleteBut you have plenty of berries in America Joanne. I have a feeling blackberries love a warm, wet climate.
Delete