I love to go out in late September
among the fat, overripe, icy, black blackberries
to eat blackberries for breakfast,
the stalks very prickly, a penalty
they earn for knowing the black art
of blackberry-making; and as I stand among them
lifting the stalks to my mouth, the ripest berries
fall almost unbidden to my tongue,
as words sometimes do, certain peculiar words
like strengths and squinched,
many-lettered, on-syllabled lumps,
which I squeeze, squinch open, and splurge well
in the silent, startled, icy, black language
of blackberry-eating in late September.
Galway Kinnell
blackberry jam
proportions from
2 1/2 lbs. blackberries
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 1/2 cups sugar
Crush the berries, lemon juice and sugar together with your hands in a wide pot. Bring the berries to a boil and stir constantly for 8 minutes until the jam passes the wrinkle test – meaning that a dollop of jam put on a cold plate in the freezer for 1 minute will form a light skin, and wrinkle slightly when you press onto it with your finger, when you take it out. Ladle the jam into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, seal, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let the jars cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours and refrigerate all jars that don’t seal properly.
Beautiful blog post–although I still prefer Seamus Heaney’s take on blackberries to Kimnell’s. http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/blackberry-picking-3/comments.asp
ohhhhh haven’t read that one before! thanks for sharing!
Beautiful pictures–berry picking is the greatest 🙂
I miss the blackberry bushes that edged my parent’s property growing up. Tennessee is so full of wild berries, but you have to beat the deer & birds to them. I remember having swollen fingers for most of the summer from grabbing the thorns accidentally as I was trying to pick the fattest berries I could reach.
Love this memory. Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Such a yummy endeavor. I last picked blackberries in NC along the road side. I gave them a good wash and set them up to dry for the night. The next morning they were covered in mildew or mold. So, I get the idea that blackberry bushes get sprayed right along with the weeds. Now, I buy mine from the grocery store, and make chunky syrup. But, you better get to it fast, around here if the berries manage to make it to their destiny as chunky syrup, that goes just as fast on buttermilk pancakes. Thanks for sharing your post.
Looks like you had a fantastic time picking Blackberries. I still have blackberries in the freezer from last summer that I really should make into jam – thanks for the reminder 🙂
Nice! Or… pie?
Both are good – and evil 🙂
My blackberries went CRAZY this year! I had so many.Last year we had a lot and I picked a lot, although I usually leave them all for the birds.Well, the birds had plenty even with all I gathered. Both times I froze them after putting them in a simple syrup then I removed them and cooked down the juice and syrup. I use it to eat as is, over ice cream, in trifles and to top custard or cheese-cake type desserts.This year I added tapioca and plan to make pies or tarts…or even place it in puff pastry.We’ll see when the cooler weather hits.
Thanks for the recipe.I canned for the first time a couple of months ago. Maybe I will put my hand to this next year.
gorgeous photos, and what a lovely poem!
I love blackberries! I would love to eat them so fresh, to hand pick them and just eat them!
I just made a new recipe with blackberries that I’ll post tomorrow on my blog, check it out!
http://foodiesurvivalkit.wordpress.com
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Makes me want to grow blackberries in the garden. Maybe next year…
Love this post! I love the poem you included! I nominated you for awards. Click here to retrieve them: http://magicalmegan28.wordpress.com/2013/08/16/new-awards/