Blackberry Success!

Despite my futile attempts earlier in the year to tame the wild blackberries growing next to my house, I have found a little path to enable me to have a blackberry snack whenever I want.  My first berry picking mission started out with high hopes.  I took a little Tupperware bowl turned basket, and envisioned myself quite quaint as I strolled off to pick blackberries.

Problem.  It was fucking hot and they have crazy-long thorns.  What I thought would be a quick stroll through the country side picking blackberries ended up being a battle to get out without tearing a hole in my shirt or lose an eye.  Imagine when Maleficent cursed Princess Aurora's castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty.  

Didn't see a Disney reference coming, did ya?

So after my battle with the thorns, I did make it out alive with about 2 cups of blackberries.  Because I was anxious for my hard work to pay off, I immediately went to Allrecipes.com and made the the first blackberry cobbler recipe I could find for the Hubby and I to enjoy.  

Sadly, the cobbler came out kind of mediocre, to put it nicely.  It was more like a blackberry muffin in an 8x8 square pan.  Next time I'll just shove the blackberries in the freezer and do my homework to find a recipe worth cooking.  If any one knows of a good cobbler recipe, let me know.  I'm talking to you, CaseyRhea.

Operation Blackberry

Next to our little homestead is an empty lot.  Well, empty as there isn't a house.  It is actually overgrown with all sorts of vegetation.  Usually, we just ignore it, and hey, at least wild green growth is better than neighbors, right?

But, if you look closely, you can see that there are some pretty awesome blackberries growing in there.   Who wouldn’t love to have blackberries available at any time?  The problem is, that before I can even try to fight with the birds for the delish fruit, many of the blackberry bushes are choked out by honeysuckle vines.

[Sidebar, many people think they are weeds, and I understand they can quickly take over an area.  I am not that person.  I love honeysuckles.  One of my favorite things about our little house is the scent of honeysuckles floating through the windows on a late spring night.]

So began Operation Blackberry, initiated by my dear friend Nikki.  Only she could believe that gardening is appropriate after drinking wine for 8 hours on the wine trails.  After arming ourselves with shovels, we were prepared to attempt a rescue mission for a couple of blackberry bushes to plant in my yard.

Things got ugly.

I was not as strong of a gardening rockstar as Nikki, and quickly gave up once I got the wine spins.  However, we (okay, she) successfully managed to free three plants from the wilderness.

We then planted them, albeit some what hastily, in a safe location along my back fence where they would get plenty of sunshine.

And then they died.

The End.