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I picked 300g of wild blackberries from the allotment last Friday (22nd July 2011).

I froze them, to stockpile gradually until I have enough to make jam!!!!

Early or what?!

very early

we started 2 weeks ago, so far have 7lb in the freezer for wine.

Love the fruit, hate the scratches

started picking them here too. thought looking back on my blog... seems to be about the same time as previous years.

Have just picked 5lb today from my field, it is definitely early for here. Normally I am not picking till mid August.

I'm lots later than everyone so far, but got really excited to find the first ones here today (and someone told me where there are wild raspberries too)

Nothing to pick here - they are so small and pathetic due to early drought that some berries only have about 3 or 4 blobs on them.

Thank god I now have those cultivated thornless ones, because they are enormous, taste sweet and fabulous and don't have that horrid hard centre that wild ones have. I'll have to wait for next year for a decent amount but I've seen and tasted them round my friend's and they are just amazing! Never liked the wild ones anyway, only any good for jelly but not for eating.

I picked looooads down near my parent's house in Surrey at the weekend. I made smoothies with them, yummy!

I've just picked my first decent tubfull this year. Much earlier than last year, when I hardly had any at all.

Zoe

Obviously wasn't droughty enough in England then this spring. They are the one fruit which is not early this year either.

Millymollymandy wrote:Thank god I now have those cultivated thornless ones, because they are enormous, taste sweet and fabulous

Any idea what the variety name is MMM, and do they have a true blackberry taste.
I love blackberries and it's getting difficult for me to pick wild ones, but years ago I BOUGHT a punnet of some huge commercial blackberries (just to see what they tasted like) and I thought they were pretty much tasteless, very sweet, but tasteless.
That was several years ago mind and they probably have far better varieties now.

Our brambles are still not ready yet and I have a row of jars in the kitchen just waiting to be filled with bramble jams and jellies!

I already have a decent stock (of wild ones) in the freezer, and more are arriving constantly. By traditional standards, it's early - but I was collecting them at the same time last year too. I think we may have to adjust our perceptions of early.

And I'm with Odsox - the cultivated varieties don't have the same acidic background taste and therefore are merely sickly sweet. No good for winemaking, but then I'm a bit biassed in that direction.

Mike

Odsox wrote:

Millymollymandy wrote:Thank god I now have those cultivated thornless ones, because they are enormous, taste sweet and fabulous

Any idea what the variety name is MMM, and do they have a true blackberry taste.
I love blackberries and it's getting difficult for me to pick wild ones, but years ago I BOUGHT a punnet of some huge commercial blackberries (just to see what they tasted like) and I thought they were pretty much tasteless, very sweet, but tasteless.
That was several years ago mind and they probably have far better varieties now.

I don't know unfortunately, they are just from a friend who seems to not know what any of her varieties of anything are.

I don't like wild blackberries, I don't like the taste (lack of), lack of sweetness and the nasty hard centre. I only use them for bramble jelly, never for crumbles or for eating as I find them really unpleasant. The cultivated ones on the other hand were just like eating giant raspberries (but with a different flavour if you know what I mean ).

But I suspect our very dry soil here means that our wild blackberries are not as good as they are in damper places, so I can't easily compare with 'good' wild ones.

Sorry I can't be any more helpful.

That's a shame, but thanks MMM.
Our wild blackberries are always large, juicy and tasty with no hard centres at all, or most briars are.
The only problem is all the best ones are either out of reach, behind electric fences or just plain difficult to get to.

I was hoping you were going to tell me that modern commercial varieties are now the same as my wild ones, only bigger, juicier, tastier and thornless, especially as this winter I'm planting up a new soft fruit garden.

Edit to say that I suppose the answer is to find the biggest, tastiest wild one and take a cutting, but it goes against the grain a bit to actually plant brambles in my garden.

total so far is 50lb for wine.

although other half says i look like i self harm,