We were out of town for the long holiday weekend, but I was excited to get back knowing the black raspberries in the backyard had probably started to ripen while we were away.
We didn’t get home until nearly dark last night, so I accepted the fact I was going to have wait until sunrise to see what berry surprise awaited me for breakfast this morning.
That is of course, until I remembered the reason they invented flashlights:
to spy on your ripe berries in the dark.
I’m going to admit this felt a little like snooping for presents in December. Patience has never been my strong suit.
With today’s berry breakfast jackpot officially scoped out, I returned to the house to assemble overnight oats and then dashed off to bed so visions of black raspberry breakfasts could dance in my head.
This morning, post-sunrise/pre-bike ride I returned the berry patch to see what Squirrely Claus left me.
Well HO HO HO! This is where Mama wins all her money back.
The black raspberry patch in our urban backyard is small, but these are very low maintenance crop, vigorous, effortless to grow and will quite eagerly (maybe too eagerly!) spread if you let them.
Best of all, they come with their very own thorny squirrel security system – no marigolds needed. No pesticides or fertilizers used on these babies either.
Ours were all wild plants that were transplanted here from the yards of family and friends who had plenty of plants to dig up and share. If you don’t have any raspberry bushes but want some – go for it! Buy some, or better yet, find a friend who will let you raid their patch for a few plants to bring home for free. You don’t need a lot of space, even just a couple of plants can allow you to skip the berry section for a few weeks out of the year.
I held off tearing into the berry presents this morning for as long as I could. I guess I can wait long enough for kiddos join in on the fun.
Yeah yeah kid, looks great. Get back to work.
I can’t believe there are actually laws against child labor – their little bodies can squeeze in between those thorny branches so well!
Time for breakfast, who wants Black Raspberry Overnight Oats? (Me, ME! I do! I do!)
1/3 c rolled oats
1/2 c 2% Fage, plain
1/2 unsweetened almond milk
dash of cinnamon
Oats were left to soak in the fridge overnight, topped this morning with half a banana, a couple of crushed pecans and as many black raspberries as I could manage without looking like a selfish berry scrooge.
bah! humbug! Let’s eat!
jealous! ours aren’t ripe yet. nowhere near. grrrrr.
LOL-I actually said out loud “OOOO…that looks good” when I saw the blackberry oats!! LOL We have a GIANT Mulberry tree in our yard and the branches are so high we have to stand on a ladder to reach them!! I think that would break all kinds of laws for my kids!!! ahahhaha
Jealous over here, too. I’ve got some growing in our yard as well, but not particularly accessible. I want to move them. Suggestions?
B, in my experience, it’s easiest to move in them in the spring – when there isn’t a ton of growth from surrounding plants and the raspberry bushes themselves aren’t covered in leaves… that makes it’s easier to get at them. The roots don’t seem to go terribly deep – we would just dig the new whole, lay down a layer of composted soil, dig up the plant and then transport them home/around the yard in 5 gallon buckets and give them a big drink of water. And wear gloves!
That last shot is beautiful! And gone by now, no doubt.
Artificial baits include spoons, jigs, ribbon baits, rattler
baits & streamer baits. Connect “A’s” positive terminal to “B’s” negative terminal.
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