On Saturday a few minutes in my favourite blackberrying patch provided an easy couple of ice cream containers of free food. Thee are plenty left and I must get out again before the weekend to harvest some more.
The plan was to have a celebratory pub lunch afterwards, but the local pub, I found, is now shut at weekends. I can think of four rural pubs, to whose gardens we took our kids 20-25 years ago, which are now closed. It’s a growing trend. And the two petrol stations which were on my journey in to Sandy before I got to a main road have also closed in that period. Our local library has a rather uncertain future (I must enroll for the volunteer training events) and I’d be surprised if our local bus service survives evenin its current inconvenent form.
It’s a rural idyll, you know.
A Saturday night walk on our local reserve led by the staff. A noisy scrambling in the hedge revealed a climbing badger gorging itself on blackberries! It dropped onto the path and lolloped away. It’s latrine confirmed it’s diet!
The local pub that closed was recently bought out and is now run as a community effort. Looking forward to eating there later this week.
Lest we forget to mention the lack of reasonable broadband? BT offer 0.256mb that’s akin to wind up clockwork toys of yesteryear? Isolated properties are unable to club together with other like-minded, satellite is temperamental but cheaper than extremely expensive mobile data:( 🙁
Then the roads play havoc with vehicle suspensions …
Not to worry, keep on paying taxes & fingers crossed that one day “they’ll” remember that not all rural residents are represented by that august organisation which makes claims etc. etc. Local authorities in this area appear to have abandoned us, providing very minimal services. Libraries, luxuries now and as for a local natural history museum or even a museum with a natural history section in it?
Carry on regardless 😉
Blackberries make up for some of the poor service but then they’re perceived as weeds so grubbed out by landowners &c.
Check out B4RN. It’s not “grim oop north”!
Everywhere has minimal services now, not just rural areas! I live in Sheffield. Of the often, very polluted, roads some are in really poor condition; libraries are closing or run by volunteers; post boxes are shut up; public museums and art galleries are struggling; out of city pubs are closing and sometimes left derelict; bus and tram services have been reduced; there are not enough police to prevent or chase up petty crime (vandalism. off-road motorbikes etc). And, what’s more, I wouldn’t eat a blackberry from any of the road verges round here. However, in my local urban park (former brownfield site) there is scrub, mature trees, fruit trees, wildflowers, a stream, a pool and grassland. Plus you can see Hobbies, Linnets, Spotted Flycatchers, warblers, Mallards, Water Rail and many more species of bird, and a whole variety of introduces and native plants, fungi and other wildlife – its an urban treasure. And, it is safe to eat the blackberries (and other fruit) from there too!
I’m delighted to see you celebrating the humble blackberry, yet again. Food for not only hunter-gatherers but a wide range of native wildlife from foxes to invertebrates. We are also in the process of gathering annual supplies ready for freezing and fortunately have access to an unmanaged, coastal site where we can guarantee not to find the bushes smashed to pieces in the cause of either agriculture or conservation.
In my area of North Derbyshire, they have been past their best for a while now, and if not actually
dried up, are beginning to taste as if they have been pissed on by Old Nick.
The Labrador expects at least a dozen every morning, or it wants to know why.
I had been eyeing some heavily laden banks of brambles for some time anticipating the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness but when I sampled some last week I was v disappointed that the berries tasted of – nothing. Even edamame beans are delicious compared to these drupels of pap. Heartbroken! But the sloes are starting to resemble something edible, so maybe …
Had some very tasty ones up here in Northumberland this year. I hope the sloes live up to expectations for you.
PS Does anyone have any good suggestions for how to use sloes that don’t involve gin (never been very keen on sloe gin).
Jonathan – add more sugar! Or give it away as Christmas presents to those who do like it! I like it!
Well that is one way to use them!