Blackberries
What is it?
We grow three different varieties of blackberry. The earliest are the Prime Ark Freedom floricane berries, followed by Natchez and Ouichita. The last berries of the season are the primocane berries on the Prime Ark Freedoms. Each variety has a slightly different texture and flavor - we like them all!
When picking blackberries, you only want to pick the ones that are fully black and plump. Blackberries start green, then turn raspberry colored as they ripen, finally ending up fully black when they’re ready to pick. These are the ones to look for! Unripe berries will be sour.
Blackberries are loaded with Vitamin C, antioxidants, and fiber! They are truly a super food!
How do I clean and store it?
If it was hot outside while you were picking, keep the plastic bag with your berries open to vent some of the heat on the way home - don’t tie the bag closed. When you get home, gently dump them into a bowl and submerge them in cool tap water for about 5 minutes. Then give them a good swish with your hands, drain, and spread them on a towel to dry on the counter. Once they’re fully dry, store them in a container with the lid slightly askew in the fridge.
If you’d like to freeze your berries, do all of the preceding steps and get them cold in the fridge first. When they’re nice and cold, spread them out on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, you can pour them into a zip top bag and take out just a few or a bunch at a time!
How do I cook it?
Just put them in your face! If you want to get more creative than that:
Sprinkle them on Greek yogurt with slivered almonds for breakfast
Freeze and drop them into sparkling wine
“Oh no, we picked fourteen pounds of blackberries”:
Freezing them with the method above works great to keep you in blackberries all winter long.
If you want to bust out the water bath canner:
Old Fashioned Blackberry Jam
Blackberry Pie Filling - Follow the directions exactly as they tell you to for the cherry pie filling! This turned out excellent for me last year. This is the Cook’s Country pie dough I make to use with the canned filling.