Blackberries, Blueberries and Pie...Oh my!

I'm ready for fall. I bought an apple scented candle and as its aroma filled the air I had a sudden urge to go apple picking. Think of it, a cool fall day, rows and rows of apple trees standing like soldiers just heaving with red fruit. Alas, fall was not ready for me. I'm a few weeks too early and my yearn for fall is a little misplaced in this 85 degree heat.

So, on a whim Sage and I decided to go berry picking instead! We hopped in the car and headed out to a berry patch just south of Kansas City. I'd never been berry picking before but I'd heard it could be hard work but just think of the end reward, a lovely berry pie. Besides, we really had nothing else to do on an August Saturday morning. So, armed with our little white pails and directions to walk down the path a ways we headed out to the open berry patch about a quarter mile from the berry outfitters.

We started with the blackberry patch since it was the first one on the path. Blackberries are tricky. They like to hide. They offer their unripe bright red fruit in plain sight while the fat juicy black ones hide well in the back under the brush and leaves. This was frustrating at first but as we wandered the rows and adjusted our blackberry eyes, suddenly plump purplish black blackberries were spotted everywhere. The red ones held so much allure at first though that we couldn't help picking some.

I really got into the zen of picking blackberries and I could tell Sage did too. We went off down different paths exclaiming in triumph each time we found a big ripe black one. I was thankful no one else was around because I really actually started talking to the tricky bushes and thanking them for such beautiful berries once they decided to reveal them to me. Sage would have been mortified to hear me even if no one was around. Its a good thing she was a few rows over.

How can you not be gushingly thankful for such a lusty berry?

It took us a good hour to collect enough berries for a pie. An hour of zen disturbed only mildly by the buzzing of horseflies and huge blackberry-eating beatles. Sage found a snail lazily making its way across a blackberry leaf. A butterfly landed on her and rode with her all the way down one row. This hour gave me newfound respect for the price of berries in the store. Its hard work but ever so pleasant to be so close to nature.

We walked a ways over to the blueberry patch next. As you well know, blueberries are quite a bit smaller than blackberries. I picked a few and quickly decided it would take an awful lot of picking to make a blueberry pie....and the berry outfitters store DID say they had an abundance of already picked blueberries...so we wandered a few more steps, admired the breathtaking view of niceley spaced blueberry bushes contrasting ever so nicely with the pale blue sky and paused just long enough for me to snap this shot before we headed back to the store.

Ahh but the blackberries....just look at this bountiful harvest.

I can't wait til apple season!