CLODAGH FINN: The joy of berry-picking blurs urban-rural divide

Blackberry season is one of the few times of year when it’s clear that you can’t banish nature from the city, even though we try, writes Clodagh Finn.

FOR weeks now, I’ve been watching as the blackberries on my very urban daily route turn from green to red to luscious black. With a bit of luck — and a few sunny spells — they should be ripe for the picking this week.

After that, the only issue is whether they’ll survive the journey from hedgerow to kitchen because, as berry lovers the world over know, blackberry-pickers are divided into two groups: Gobblers and gatherers.