Sunday, June 26, 2011
Is This a Wild Blackberry? Part 2!
Earlier this month, I wrote about a wild berry plant that is growing along my fence line. I saw that some of the berries have started to ripen. Many of you said that it could be a wild blackberry, or a mulberry or a boysenberry plant.
Also, most of you said it definitely is not poisonous. I did a general Google search and found that in North America, there are no wild berries that look like blackberries that are poisonous. So yesterday, we took the plunge and picked two of the red berries to try. We thought these were ripe, but in fact they weren't. There were so sour! I guess they weren't ripe at all. And since I'm still alive today, they are definitely not poisonous!!
So I decided to do a Google search for "Wild Blackberry" and found "Wildman" Steve Brill did an article about wild blackberries and they do look an awful lot like the photos he has on this page. He says that the difference between blackberry and mulberries are that wild blackberries have thorns and mulberries do not. He also says that, "The fruit, which ripens from mid-summer to early fall, goes from green to red to black." I'll wait for the other berries to turn black before I pick the rest. I'm so excited that we can forage in our own front yard! I just hope the neighbors don't pull this plant out, since we share the fence! Hopefully the plant will remain growing only on our side of the fence!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Those are blackberries. They grow all over our yard. Pick them when the turn black. They make lovely jam and even better pie. They are considered invasive here but I keep just enough to eat fresh or make jam.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kristin, they are blackberries. I have a Mulberry tree in my yard, and consumed gallons of then growing up, so I know they are not mulberries. Keep us posted.
ReplyDeleteAlso, just an FYI, mulberries grow on trees, not brambles.
ReplyDeleteSo, following up on a comment you left on my blog a while back, will you be tracking the monetary value of produce you grow in your garden? I'd love to be able to compare notes!
PS Nice blog!
What a lucky find. They will be so tasty when they are ripe.
ReplyDeleteYou sure you want a blackberry in your yard? They're incredibly invasive. Hopefully they're not the Himalayan blackberry. They grow huge thickets here, and their thorns hurt so bad. They're very hard to get rid of, because they send runners everywhere. The wild blackberry fruit isn't nearly as good as cultivated varieties, and you can buy thornless varieties at that. I say be very wary of this plant. Sorry to be a bummer.
ReplyDeleteI agree, mulberries grow on trees.
ReplyDeleteThose are BB's or raspberries.