The Bag Lady went berry-picking on Friday, but didn't go to the woods to look for pin-cherries. According to sources in the know, the bushes are simply no longer there. But she and her hubby's cousin did spend several arduous hours in the extremely hot sun picking raspberries.
Here is a rather blurry photo of the Bag Lady's
And here is a photo of the fruits of their labour:
It doesn't look like a lot, does it? But this is a 57 litre cooler..... The Bag Lady extracted over 12 cups of juice from these berries (she is uncertain because the last batch is still dripping), which will produce approximately 18 jars of jelly.She also tried an experiment - once she had extracted the juice from the berries, she put the mash into the dehydrator and made fruit leather. It tastes great, but there are a huge amount of seeds in it. Anyone know the nutritional value of raspberry seeds?
She also has a batch of blueberries (courtesy of her berry-picking companion) that she will turn into jam. And perhaps a pie. Yum. Thanks, cousin!
Oh, and check out Rook's Nest for a really cool photo of an old bathtub used as a planter.
Here's something the Bag Lady did one year:
23 comments:
Rspberry seeds are so good for the colon!
I made blueberry jam last week, mmmm it's so good on toast!
Shammickite - that's too funny - I was over checking out your blog whilst you were here looking at mine!
Love raspberry jelly and blueberry jam!
Mmmmm looks delicious! That would take such a long time to pick all those berries. But its worth it!
Sagan - they are so darned good! Well worth the work. And making jelly ensures that we'll have that lovely flavour well into the winter (as long as the Bag Lady hides a few jars so the Cow Whisperer can't eat them all at once!)
Oh man, I am so incredibly jealous!!
And yeah... The seeds mean you're getting your fibre for sure! Maybe if you were to grind the mash a little first, the seeds wouldn't be so big.
Christine - that's a good idea! If I put it in the food processor, it might help make them a little less obvious..... Thanks!
The raspberries look great. I wish I had someplace to harvest berries and fruit. Maybe someday I'll plant fruit trees or berry bushes here, but the shade put out by our ginormous oak is a problem.
Be careful with all those seeds. Diverticulitis ain't no picnic! I've never had it, but some of my relatives have.
BG - I have been diagnosed with diverticulosis, which is why I make jelly instead of jam, and try to stay away from the seeds. So far, (knock on wood) I haven't had any trouble, but don't really want to, either.....
oooh I love the leather and dont mind seeds.
great idea.
Now, the leather I would eat, but I don't like fresh fruit - is that weird? Um, never mind.
Looks like a great harvest.
I want a hat like your companion's to take with me to Italy! It's very very cool.
I've wanted to go fruit picking all summer but it's been so rainy we haven't been able to go - boo. I had to buy my jam from the farm shop in the end - it's still very tasty in my porridge every morning though :0)
TA x
I've picked about everything pickable here. I'm eating blackberry pudding tonight, in fact. I like your co-picker's hat. It looks as though it would resist being pulled off by raspberry canes.
Mary Anne in Kentucky
The raspberries look great, and what a lot of work.
I'm glad the leather is working out, but please be wary of those seeds.
Mmm....So hoping that when I am home at the end of August I will be able to get some homemade raspberry jam from my mom...And strawberry too, while I'm at it. Nothing like homemade jams & jellies!
when i was in sicily, there was a huge blackberry bush.
they were such sweet berries!
Oh man, homemade raspberry jelly... and the fruit leather sounds great too. I'm sure it tastes even better when your own hard work and sweat went into picking and making it!
A jar of expensive fancy-ass jam from store just can't come close.
Miz - the leather tastes surprisingly good.
Reb - I'm that way with some fruits, too. But love raspberries in any form.
TA - isn't that the coolest hat!? Too bad about all the rain you've been having - wish you could send us some!
Mary Anne - I wish we had blackberries here - I love them!
dfLeah - next batch, I'll try grinding them in the food processor first.
Javachick - homemade definitely is better - especially your own mother's!
Sydney - blackberries are terrific, aren't they? We picked some in BC once and they were delicious.
Crabby - my personal favourite is jelly made from wild raspberries. The flavour is just that little bit more intense. YUM!
Yum...homemade jam. My relatives in N. Dakota used to pick what they called gooseberries - do you have such berries where you are?
Homemade jam...Yum! We had some wild blackberry bushes by our house growing up, and loved to go pick the berries. Never had enough of them to make jelly, though. We did make wild grape jelly on occasion, as the fence rows is our area were covered with grape vines!
Missicat - I tried to grow a gooseberry bush, but it didn't survive. I've never seen them in the wild around here, so I'm not sure if they grow here or not!
Gena - grape jelly - yum! I have a grape vine in my garden - it froze this spring (when I lost my first tomatoes, etc.) but has come back gang-busters! It has branched out like crazy, but no grapes this year. Maybe next year.
Looks good...nice pics also!
Those fresh berries look yum!
Mark - thanks!
Emily - they are so-o tasty!!
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