Let the harvest begin!

Yummy! Up until yesterday we had only found a few handfuls of raspberries. I went picking with the kids yesterday and found a bunch of ripe black raspberries and blackberries. The best part is these were in a new spot that I didn't realize had so many berries. It is close to the house, so between there and the drive way I think we will have more berries than we can handle. There are berries all over the property, but I am happy to have so many close to the house!~

It is still early and there are a lot more unripe than ripe berries, but even so the kids and I brought back about 10 Cups of berries in a couple of hours. Ok correction, Kellen and I brought back the berries. Kellen was a big help, but Lydia could not resist eating every berry she picked and then some! :) When her belly was full she went back to the house!

Another exciting find - Blueberries! These are my favorite fruit. I had never found any wild ones before. Yesterday we saw a small bush mixed in the raspberries. Now this bush wouldn't provide even enough for me to eat, but I am encouraged that they do grow on the property. Where there is one there is probably more. Now I just have to find them. I am wondering if the deer are eating them and that is why I haven't seen more. I don't know how to identify the plant with out the berries. I need to learn.

Ok that was a rabbit trail sorry! I get a little excited for blueberries! We brought the raspberries back and made Boiled Wild Blackberry Dumplin' from Bootstraps an Biscuits. It was so good. I am planning to eat lots of berries, make lots of cobblers and pies, freeze some berries, make some jam and maybe make a raspberry vinegar. There should be plenty of berries, but time? Well we will see. We are going out of town next week and I am sad about the berries we will miss, but I think there will still be plenty when we return and heck the red raspberries haven't even started yet!