Berries, Berries And More Berries...

It's time for the blackberry and raspberry harvest in east Tennessee at the homestead!.  More berries on the property than we can possibly pick, even when out there daily.  Whew!.  Friends and family also join in on the picking, a fun and relaxing past-time.

Beware:  It CAN bring out any dormant OCD tendencies if you aren't careful.  "No wait...I have to pick ALL of them NOW... and I'm not stopping!".  I actually had the idea of advertising for help at the psychiatry clinics..."worker must have OCD".  They'd make fantastic pickers.

Rows and rows of berries on fence lines.



Full of antioxidants and vitamin B-17 from the seeds.  Yes, berries have lots of little seeds embedded in them that force you to eat them, which has the nice side-effect of anti-cancer properties.  Delicious and nutritious!  Can't beat that.



Have already picked around three gallons of raspberries and two gallons of blackberries.  Great for freezing, making desserts and jams.  Also, great free food for kids!  Will keep them occupied for hours...well, maybe  a few minutes.   My oldests will actually pick for the family, but the youngests?  They probably eat half their weight while picking!

But...did I mention the FREE food aspect?
 



Freezing is done best when berries are spread over a pan in a single layer.  After frozen, then berries can be put into a freezer bag.  Otherwise, berries will freeze into one big ball.  Certainly not fun to be breaking apart for your morning smoothie.