Bumper season for berries

IT looks like being a bumper season for wild berry pickers, probably due to the good mixture of heat and moisture which boosted growth during the summer. A profusion of blackberries has resulted.

As well as adding lustre to the countryside, berries, fruits, nuts and cones contain the seeds of a plant and are therefore crucial for the cycle of life. They also provide an important food source for animals and birds over the winter months.

As more people are now looking for natural foods, they don’t have far to go — blackberries can be picked off brambles that grow prolifically on roadside hedges and ditches. Years ago, children were avid blackberry pickers and were well rewarded by delicious jam made from the fruit.

It’s good to see old traditions returning and we see people out gathering blackberries.

Humans have competition, of course, as the blackberry is also a food of insects, wasps, butterflies, birds and some mammals.

Sloes, the purple fruit of the blackthorn tree, are also picked in the autumn. They are quite bitter to taste, but people use them for wine-making. You rarely hear people talking about crab apples nowadays but, from times past, we remember people that used them to make superb apple jelly and jam.

But, blackberries are easily the perennial favourite in the wild berry league. There are good reasons for that, apart from taste: blackberries contain antioxidants and vitamin C, for example. Their many tiny seeds also make them a good source of fibre and they also freeze well, so it’s no harm to put some in the freezer to use during the winter.

Blackberries have grown across Asia, Europe and the Americas for tens of thousands of years. Archaeological research has shown European inhabitants ate them as long ago as 8,000 BC. Amazingly, there are over 2,000 varieties found throughout the cooler regions of the world, but blackberries are more highly prized as a food in Ireland, Britain and northern Europe.

And you don’t have to live in the countryside to find them. Berry-laden brambles can be found in cities and towns, often on waste ground, canals paths and sheltered areas.