That is what we got this weekend! I have been jonesing for some blackberries to freeze for my next jam-making sessions. I was low on blackberries last year, so didn't make much and it is MY favorite, so I had to be stingy with it this year. We have a few pick your own places close enough to drive for the day. I found them on one of my favorite sites: PickYourOwn.org You can search for pick your own places by state, then county. There are also great preserving instructions, as well as calendars of when different things are in season. I use this site all the time. (The home page is a little odd, just scroll down to start looking for a farm.
I had found one place that is only about a 30 minute drive and we decided to go pick blackberries on Sunday morning. I was thinking about it Saturday night and decided I wanted more than just blackberries, so we decided to go to our favorite local farm. The one where we picked strawberries a while back.
It was a gorgeous day, though really hot!! We headed down and had a lovely time, picking out fresh corn (Hubby's favorite), tomatoes, green beans, green bell peppers, onions, watermelon, lettuce, new potatoes, celery and, of course, blackberries. The blackberries here ended up costing more than the other place would, but we stocked up on a lot of produce as well, and only spent $41. 
Then we stopped for lunch at a little place we had driven by a hundred times and never gone in. It was an Italian grill and they had a buffet. Perfect for Hubby! I ate a delicious cheeseburger while he chowed down. Then we headed home and I started putting up produce. I froze all but 1 pint of the blackberries. We will be eating shortcake with them. Yum! I shucked 10 ears of corn and froze some of it, prepped about 5 lbs of green beens. Tonight I need to blanch and freeze most of them. Then I seeded and diced 8 HUGE bell peppers. I now have 4 quarts of frozen diced peppers in the freezers.
It was a very productive weekend. But now I am thinking that we need to go to the other place and get some more....cheaper....blackberries. Hubby is up for picking. I might as well take advantage of it.
21 comments:
I just found out about that website yesterday, but I'm sure I'll be using a lot from now on. Blackberries won't be ready here until next month, but some places still have strawberries. I may look into that for later this week. :)
Blackberries are my all-time favorite too!!! YUMMY!!!! I had my first fresh corn of the year last week and it was sooooo good and sweet!
Hi, Annie Jones. I have been using that website for years. They have added so much info. It is really useful.
Hi, Queenie Jeannie. We just LOVE fresh corn. There is nothing like fresh veggies! And berries of course.
YUMMY! I forget when the different types of berries come out, so I'll have to keep a good lookout at our local farmers market...
Yum! It sounds so wonderful at your house!!! I say load up on all that you can so you don't run low this year.
Hi, McVal and SonyaAnn! Thanks for coming to see me.
I love all kinds of berries and we used to go berry picking every year when I was a kid. For all kinds.
I thought we needed to get more strawberries, since we have been eating so many lately, but I still have quite a lot in my freezer. Now, I am working on blackberries and need to go pick some blueberries.
If you lived near me you could pick all the blackberries you wanted. We raise them and I always have a ton more than we can use. I have to pick them and give them away!
Oh, Pam, I wish I lived close to you, too!! They are expensive here! But gotta have 'em.
Thanks to you, I got my blackberry fix yesterday too, lol!
Yeah, Jeannie! I hope they were delicious.
Hubby and I had blackberry shortcake last night. Yummy. Though I was thinking as I ate it that a cobbler would have been much better. LOL!
Those blackberries look wonderful!! Hope you are having a good week!!
Hi, Together We Save!
The blackberries are wonderful! And I am having a pretty good week.
Thanks for coming to see me.
Those are absolutely beautiful berries!! YUM YUM!!! :)
Thanks, A.Marie, for coming to see me!
Anything new in your neck of thee woods?
Anna's at school and DJ is sleeping off his DC trip. He said that he got one night's worth of sleep in 3 nights. So its nice and quiet here. I'm lovin' it!
Hi, SonyaAnn! Thanks for coming to see me. How nice to have a little peace and quiet.
I will have to think of something new. LOL!
OhMy..Look at that shot of berries.
Hubby and I love berries. My son loves berry juice but not really interested in eating them lol.
Those berries are so wonderful looking!
You are so lucky to have PRO places near you....I have to settle for buying from the farm stands b/c they dont' want people tromping thru their fields here.
I really need to move more south since we don't get the farms here selling until much later in the season.
I'd have to make jelly though since I don't like seeds in my berry products but
I have berry envy now...lol
Hi, Yonca! Thanks for coming to see me.
Hi, Sluggy. There are a lot of pick your own places available to us. Several are less than an hour's drive.
If we want to make a day of it, there are several more that are a couple hours' drive.
I will need to make some jelly, too. Chance only like jelly and my SIL can't have seeds because of her dentures. So, I make at least one kind of jelly.
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