Blackberry Patch
When I was a child growing up in the country I often went exploring with my cousins. We would explore the creeks and canyons, the woods and the hills. Usually accompanied by several hounds of assorted breeds all mixed together. We would eat something called sheepshowers along the way. They resemble clover . Very tart. We would find and eat persimmons and pecans from the trees. We would even eat mulberries despite the bugs. Wild sand plums grew everywhere. My grandmother used to make sand plum jelly out of it if we gathered them.
But by far, the blackberry patches were the best. There was usually a large patch or two within a mile or so. However, you could also find a small outcropping or two just about everywhere. There was always a vine with a few berries snuggled next to a blackjack or oak tree.
In my opinion there is no better dessert, no matter what the price, than a freshly made blackberry cobbler with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top. Making this dessert is the easy part. It takes a lot of blackberries to make a cobbler.
So off I would go with the largest bowl we had, having previously discovered on our youthful expeditions a bumper crop of blackberries. Negotiating a blackberry patch is not an easy endeavor. But being the seasoned veteran of blackberry picking that I am, I will explain the process.
There are thorns. Bunches of them, and the vines the berries grow on will seek you out.The best way to do it is to be patient and to be relaxed. First, find the clearest spot in the growth for a place to sit. Usually about a 1/3 of the way into the patch. Take a seat. Manipulate the vines so you can sit and so you can pick the berries easily . The blackberry patches here have something we called "dewberries". They were a lot larger than the blackberries and much juicer. They were usually in the forefront of the patch and it was best to sit just past those .The dewberries were plumper and sweeter and delicious but they don't make the best cobbler.Its the smaller, more" tart" ones growing in the main patch that do.
The proper way a country kid picks blackberries:
While sitting in the patch you use your right hand to pick the smaller ,more tart blackberries for the cobbler and place the berry in a large bowl sitting in your lap. Now carefully with your left hand pick and eat a very large, sweet, dewberry. Repeat this until your bowl is full or your stomach is, whichever comes first.
That's all there is to it. Return with at least a gallon of blackberries as quickly as possible so that cobbler can get to cooking. There is absolutely nothing better than homemade blackberry cobbler !
