Foraging for Wild Blackberries in My Front Yard

Yesterday, I picked these berries off the "mystery" wild berry plant growing in my front yard.  I'm 99.9% sure that it's definitely a wild Blackberry.  Indeed the berries turned from bright red to a black color.  The hubs and I tasted the berries, yup, sweet and tart.  There are a lot of berries growing, but definitely not enough for jam.  So we'll just pluck the berries as we see them ripening and enjoy them as little treats.

I foraged for these today.  I love that I can forage for food in my own front yard!  How incredibly awesome.  I can't believe I never noticed this plant growing in my front yard last year.  Many of you warned that wild blackberries can be incredibly invasive.  I'll keep an eye on how these plants grow and will trim them or pull them if they get out of control.  But for now, I will just enjoy!!

I wonder if I can consider this a harvest for Harvest Monday on Daphne's Dandelions blog?  haha

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!

Is this a wild blackberry plant?

This year, for the first time, I noticed some berries growing along my fence line. It looks an awful lot like my Navajo blackberry plant.  It's actually growing behind the Navajo Blackberry, but I know it's not a runner because the "mystery" plant has thorns, whereas the Navajo is thornless. Since I know next to nothing about wild edibles, I'm wondering if maybe some of the knowledgeable garden bloggers out there might know.  Do you think it's a wild blackberry plant? It looks like the same type of leaves of the Navajo plant, except it has little thorns on the stems.  And here are the berries that are forming.  They definitely look like a blackberry or raspberry of some sort. 

Here's another view of the leaves and berries.  I can't wait to see what color the berries will be when they ripen.  Since I know nada about wild food, I'm a little scared to try the berry, in case it might be poisonous.  I had tickets to go on a wild forage tour with Steve "Wildman" Brill in Central Park this past Saturday.  In the tour, he teaches you about edible plants, and he covers berries in his tour.  I was hoping to show him a picture of my wild berry plant and ask for his advice.  But since it rained on Saturday, the tour was canceled, and so I won't be able to ask him until I book another tour with him.  But maybe one of you know.  What do you think based on these photos?  Is it safe to eat?

And this is what the entire plant looks like.  It's not very large at all, but it sure has quite a bit of berries on it.  Oh please let it be a wild blackberry plant!  That would be so so so so so COOL, because that will mean I can forage in my own yard!