Tis the season for wild black raspberries to ripen, which means mosquito bites, berry bramble scratches, and hands that make you look like Lady Macbeth.
We are fortunate to have a plethora of brambly, scratchy, juicy, berry-licious plants on our property. In Ohio, as in many other states, wild berries are considered a weed. At the farmstead, they are considered a delicacy.
Every summer, we spend days decked out in full battle gear, ready to go head to head with mosquitoes, biting flies, and the occasional snake as we delve into the prickly patches of berry-laden goodness.
Mosquitoes are, I was once told by a local naturalist, the number one pollinator of wild berries. Personally, I think it’s all part of some dastardly mosquito plot to take over the world.
In a somewhat non-traditional relationship, the male mosquitoes stay home to pollinate, while the females go out in search of blood. The blood meal is necessary for reproduction and their agenda to overpopulate, amass armies as thick as clouds, attack when we least suspect it, and conquer the planet.
Also, humans are delicious.
Even knowing we could be fuel for a mosquito empire doesn’t stop us from harvesting nature’s abundance. After all, there are jams, jellies, cobblers, and pies to make, not to mention dehydrating some berries for a winter pick-me-up. Nothing says “summer will be here … eventually” like a warm berry cobbler in the middle of an overlong Ohio winter.
Once the black raspberries are done for the season, the wild blackberries will ripen. We have far more blackberry bushes than black raspberry, so picking keeps us pretty busy. I know there are thornless varieties we could plant, but why bother when Mother Nature so generously provides such delicious fruit?
I use a simple jam recipe from the Ball Canning Jar Cookbook. I prefer the kind that doesn’t call for pectin, though it requires more cooking time. Sometimes I simply store the berries in the freezer and make jam during the winter. That works well since the stove and air conditioner aren’t conducting a battle royal, which is the case during tomato harvest and canning.
As for cobbler, if you’ve never tried it, picture a sweet slice of heaven, complete with fruit. It’s a staple in the south, where I grew up. We southerners make cobbler out of any and all fruits, and it’s the first use for sun-ripened goodness, other than what we eat while picking.
Cobbler
1 stick of butter
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of self-rising flour
¾ cup of evaporated milk
2 cups of fresh berries or fruit of your choice (or one can of peaches will do in a pinch)
¼ cup sugar for sprinkling on top
Melt butter in deep baking dish. Mix together sugar, flour, and milk until smooth. Pour over melted butter and mix together. Pour fruit over batter. Sprinkle sugar on top. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until lightly browned on top and springy in center. Batter will rise to top during baking and should be cake-like.
