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.

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.

--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

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

"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...
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.

Oh You might be better with thorns?

The cultivars have bigger and sweeter berries.

Probably what we have then, but ours have big thorns and we use it on a
boundary fence.
--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...


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.

--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

Himalaya (sp) Giants?

Mike


--

....................................

I'm an Angel, honest ! The horns are there just to keep the halo straight.

....................................

In article , Ophelia wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

The cultivars have bigger and sweeter berries.

Probably what we have then, but ours have big thorns and we use it on a
boundary fence.

If it is also very vigorous with thick, long stems, it is probably
Himalayan Giant. A real thug, but with good fruit.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 8/1/2012 5:52 AM, Ophelia wrote:
wrote

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've only ever picked wild ones, and they've always come away clean.

wrote in message ...
In article , Ophelia
wrote:
"Martin Brown" wrote in message
...

The cultivars have bigger and sweeter berries.

Probably what we have then, but ours have big thorns and we use it on a
boundary fence.

If it is also very vigorous with thick, long stems, it is probably
Himalayan Giant. A real thug, but with good fruit.

I can't remember the name but from your description it sounds right
--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

kay wrote in :

1) Blackberry crumble: Take some flour and half as much by weight of
butter or marg. Use your finger tips to squash the fat into the flour,
breaking it up so that eventually it looks "like breadcrumbs". Mix in
some sugar - not more than a quarter of the weight of the flour,
probably less. Scatter it on top of the blackberries and cook as for
pie.

2) Blackberry sponge: Take equal weight of eggs, marg, sugar and flour.
Use a beater to mix the sugar and marg until it looks paler and
fluffier, add the eggs and stir in, add the flour and stir in. Spread on
top of the blackberries, cook at 180 deg C, when it looks golden brown,
test by pressing with your finger. If it leaves a dent and doesn't
bounce back up, you need to cook it a bit longer.

3) You can stretch the blackberries without adversely affecting the
taste by adding apples. To be in the safe side, you might want to
pre-cook these a bit, as they taste better when soft and pureed.




Made the crumble last night and it was delicious.
My old recipe was using marg, I used butter as you said. The difference is staggering.

Thanks for the recipes
Baz

"kay" wrote in message
...
'Pete C[_3_ Wrote:
;965759']Never done puddings, so how do I make a blackberry pie using
ready made
pastry.
Thank you so much for that reply, just what I wanted. Maybe I didn't post in
the wrong group. I have a 35ft run of wild blackberries running alongside my
allotment. They pick cleanly and are super sweet.
Pete

"Pete C" wrote in message
...

"kay" wrote in message
...
'Pete C[_3_ Wrote:
;965759']Never done puddings, so how do I make a blackberry pie using
ready made
pastry.
Thank you so much for that reply, just what I wanted. Maybe I didn't post
in the wrong group. I have a 35ft run of wild blackberries running
alongside my allotment. They pick cleanly and are super sweet.

As I expect you know, they freeze well So you can make a pie every week if
you like, winter and summer
--
--

http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/

In article ,
writes
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.

How on earth do you pick them Vicky? If they are ripe then they come
away from their stem in fact you'd have to grasp the stem and the
prickles if you wanted to get the stem as well!!

Blackberries need very little preparation in my experience.
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Should have said - also sprinkle some flour on top of the pastry ;ump to stop it sticking to your rolling pin. Sorry if it's stating the obvious - wasn't sure whether you just didn't do puddings, or whether you didn't do any form of pie.

On 01/08/2012 22:08, Janet Tweedy wrote:
In article ,
writes
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.

How on earth do you pick them Vicky? If they are ripe then they come
away from their stem in fact you'd have to grasp the stem and the
prickles if you wanted to get the stem as well!!

Blackberries need very little preparation in my experience.


Probably the easiest fruit to pick

In article , Sacha
writes
I think you're thinking of black currants, not black berries, which
mostly come away cleanly from the hull.
--

Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
http://www.shop.helpforheroes.org.uk/


I also wondered if you meant summer pudding? blackberries are usually
put in with apple in a pie. I would not have thought of just putting
blackberries into a crumble or a pie on their own!
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk