Magic Moments

Forbidden FRUIT

BLACKBERRIES OFFER A SWEET TASTE OF SUMMER

by Connie Bye

Ripe blackberries are our guilty pleasure.

To be sure, the Himalayan blackberry has become a pest. Some well-meaning fan toted the species here, then it dug in, branched out and has tried—mightily—to take over our state. Beware those wicked, thorny branches, known as canes, that sometimes seem to grow three feet overnight. Rage at this invader’s ability to sprout from seeds, send up new shoots from roots deep underground— or from spots where the canes simply touch the ground. It’s on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board’s hit list.

But … oh, how sweet the fruit tastes each summer. Those gorgeous, glistening berries bask and ripen in our seemingly endless days of sunshine. Now’s the time to stake out your picking place, then check back as the white and pale-pink blossoms morph into red berries that deepen into inky-black fruit. It’s tough to wait for the right harvest moment, but a gentle tug will signal if a berry is ready to leave its cane. Oh, to be a bird or huge human who could reach those topmost berries waving out-of-reach overhead.

Pop a few berries in your mouth as you walk. Pick a pail-full to bake a cobbler or jazz up a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Let the juice swish around inside your mouth. (Ignore that pesky little seed in the middle.) And if some of the elixir drips down your chin, that’s just fine. Blackberry season is meant to be relished.