We need rain. Blackberries need love.

[elfs]

This Sunday, Omaha went shopping over at the Costco by Southcenter, where there's a pretty nature-and-bicycle path that runs along the Green River, and while she was shopping I took the girls up thataway. Toward the end of the path there's a parcourse (apparently, this is a real word for an "public exercise installation) and the girls love playing on the balance beam and seeing if they can keep up with me on the push-ups.

It has been brutally hot, and as we walked past King Country River Overflow Station #17, we started to pass by the blackberry bushes that are much in abundance and started to see some actual black. Many were actually starting to lose their gloss, meaning that they were ripe and ready to drop, but they were small, meaning they didn't have enough water.

On closer inspection, I saw that their pain was even greater than I thought. Whole bushes were dessicated and dying, some bushes had switched to the "throw out as many vines as possible" strategy, and the rest had started the ripening process early in the hopes of getting some seeds on the ground soon.

We need some rain soon so the blackberries can swell out their fruit, followed by a few more days of sun to bring the ripening process to full fruition, and we can have a proper suburban harvest. Otherwise, pickings will be slim this year.

Comments

[memegarden.livejournal.com]

Some people's blackberries are doing fine. hundr has some in her back yard, and she and meowse have been bringing me batches of glorious large juicy berries.

Blackberry season

[brandywilliams.livejournal.com]

Happy Lammas!

[intrepid-reason.livejournal.com]

It is a fearful prospect...I am crossing my fingers though.

[bldrnrpdx.livejournal.com]

I'd heard the raspberry season was hideous in places this year - two whole weeks in some spots. :(

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

If the pickings are that slim over by you, come over to my house and help me pick. I have many delicious blackberries, most of which aren't even ripe yet. I'm getting berries bigger than the tip of my thumb, from the nailtip down to the joint. I also need help whacking back the vines after the berries have been harvested from them, to keep the damn things in check; besides, there will be more berries hiding back behind the front rows.

So let me know when you and yours want to come over here and get a few, and maybe help me get enough in for my jams this year. I have more blackberries than I can get into jars, so there are certainly enough for you guys.