A couple of years ago I asked fellow foragers to share comments and memories on the theme of ‘snacks’ for an article I was writing for Potluck magazine. Amy Corcoran said:
“My - and I’m sure many people’s - introduction to foraging came through blackberry picking. Long walks with my grandparents wandering country roads, tupperware in hand - two for the tub and one for me, fingers staining magenta. Nature’s abundance transformed into jams, crumbles, pies, all sweetened by sunshine”.
Sound familiar? What Amy describes is one of the things I love most about foraging - there’s so much childlike wonder and nostalgia that comes along with it. Sometimes people look at me like I’ve sprouted horns when I say I study and practise foraging, but most of us will have gone blackberry picking at some point in our lives, or at the very least eaten a crumble containing blackberries foraged by someone else. Why stop at blackberries when there’s so much else to be discovered out there?
Anyway, on my dog walks this week, it’s the blackberry bushes that have captured my attention the most - in particular those pale pink flowers and the pollinators buzzing around them. At risk of wishing this already slightly lacklustre summer away, I’m excited to pick some blackberries in a month or two’s time when those green berries¹ in the photo above turn deep and dark and delicious. Luckily for me, the back of my allotment plot is a bramble-ridden sea of shame, so I won’t be short of berries to pick this year.
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Since I noticed the fruit forming on our local blackberry bushes earlier this week, I’ve been looking at bramble flowers in a new way, trying to figure out exactly how the fruit forms. It got me thinking about the ‘Make a New Buddy’ prompt I shared in April. As I said back then, visiting the same plant or tree on a regular basis and seeing how it changes and develops over the course of a year is such a valuable tool when it comes to nature connection. It helps us deepen our knowledge of not only the plant itself, but also our connection to its wider habitat and the seasons. So if you happen to live in Kent and see a strange woman staring intently at the same blackberry bush every day… say hi, it’s probably me!
Notes on Noticing Nature
Rubus fruticosus is the most widespread and well-known species of bramble in the UK, but apparently there are over 300 known micro-species of blackberry on the British Isles!
If blackberries aren’t in flower where you live right now, maybe you can go back to your ‘buddy’ from April and see how they’ve changed in the past two months instead. Or maybe you can just get lost in the video above, watching the whole process of flower to fruit over two minutes rather than two months. Studies suggest that even digital encounters with nature could lead to ‘a host of positive psychological outcomes’.
¹ Did you know a blackberry isn’t technically a berry? According to botany; tomatoes, aubergines, avocados, grapes and bananas are all berries. Here are some facts from BTO:
A berry is what a botanist would call a ‘true’ succulent fruit, with one or more seeds enclosed within a single structure. Each seed – which lacks any stony protective coat – is held within pulpy flesh formed from the wall of the ovary. The fruits of currants and nightshades are berries.
The fruits of some other plants, such as Blackthorn, resemble berries but are, strictly speaking, drupes, the difference being that the seed is encased in a stony or woody coat. The fruits of blackberries and raspberries are compound drupes, the fruit composed of many smaller drupelets, each of which contains a seed. Other drupes include sloes, plums and cherries.
Despite knowing this, I still call blackberries berries. You will too. Cos language init. I don’t know about you, but I’m not about to head out with my punnet this August, shouting to my partner, “Just off to pick some compound drupes, shall we make a crumble later?”. Drupelets is fun to say though, eh? Might need to find a way to shoehorn that into my vocabulary….
Summer Solstice
Next week is the summer solstice! Perhaps you can celebrate with some nature journaling, or one of these ‘magic rituals’ shared by
.Restore Nature Now
The natural world is in trouble and we need to take action. On Saturday 22 June 2024, the march to Restore Nature Now will be gathering at Park Lane, London, W1K, between midday and 1pm. From there the march will take a predetermined route through the city before ending in Parliament Square.
Demands are for UK politicians to show strong domestic and global nature and climate leadership by:
1. Giving a pay-rise for nature
2. Making polluters pay
3. Delivering more space for nature
4. Putting a right to a healthy environment in law
5. Ensuring fair and effective climate action
Find out more and pledge to march at restorenaturenow.com
Oh to turn over a new leaf and find more black berry drupelets hanging, hiding just waiting to be picked. When all you have stored for future use. Pick fresh leaves and dry for tea. The best antidote to cure the runs that often accompanies flu symptoms.