On 01/08/2012 10:52, Ophelia wrote:


wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:
Do you? Whenever I've picked blackberries they've always had a
stem and
middle bit, unlike raspberries, which pick nicely!

Oh yes! The ones I have picked come off clean the same as
raspberries.

Weird, I've never had blackberries do that. To the point where I
don't pick
blackberries much any more cos it annoys me so much.

Perhaps you're in too much of a hurry! ;-) Maybe they need to ripen a
bit longer?

I tried this yesterday with the blackberries by the car. 3 picked, all
ripe to the point of almost squishy. 1 left a bit of stalk, 3 had the
middle bit still in.

Are they wild? I haven't picked wild in years. The ones growing in my
garden are really big things. I can't remember the name of them
though. I don't have much problem with them.

I think the cultivars have been selected and out-crossed with raspberry
or something to confer less thorns and/or more easily detachable fruit.
Mine are a mix or wild and cultivars along the field boundary although
this year the beast managed to eat a fair amount of the thornless
varieties and some of the thorny ones after breaking the fence.

The cultivars have bigger and sweeter berries.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown