Blackberries

MurdyWurdy

Anyone know a good spot with easy access and lots of blackberries? It's jam making time, I normally head off to Wicklow and go for a good walk to collect them but have a baby this year so it's more awkward.

Just wondering if anyone was aware of somewhere I could combine a walk with the baby and some blackberry gathering. I know with the very warm weather it's not a great berry year but I figure for jam it's ok!

Tabnabs

We picked them in our garden a month ago. I think you're way too late this year. A great year for all berries.

MurdyWurdy

Hmm - there's a very small patch near me that and the berries aren't ripe on it yet. I've keeping an eye on it do I know when to go! Hope I can still get some.

Apparently the hot weather makes the berries seedy and sour so glad to hear you had some good ones!

silverharp

Sandymount beach where you walk around on the left has quite a lot , nice walk with a buggy as well

ted1

Havn't picked in a good few years, but Marley park was always great. Especially the fields up by the playground and train track.

Black berries, strawberries and raspberries are a site point for me. We moved house last year and I left behind several well fruiting plants/ trees/ bushes.
I just hope the new people enjoyed them and picked them often as they would yield several harvests.

zagmund

Booterstown - just across the road from the Tara Towers. It's an old storage area for building material, so not quite buggy friendly, but it has a huge amount of fruiting bushes there. There's a gate directly opposite the road junction with Trimlestown - climb over or around the gate and there are loads of bushes in to the *right*. The left has nothing as far as I know. I've (over the years) seen the occasional dubious looking character in the greater area but not where the fruit is - I would regard it as safe in the daylight, but not in the evening. This is as much due to the chance of injuring yourself on the rough ground as the chances of having a problem with anyone.

We picked fruit there a few weeks ago in normal blackberry season, but I passed there the other day and there was loads of almost ripe blackberries again, so I reckon there's a good chance of more harvesting from there.

Incidentally, our raspberries at home provided loads of fruit earlier in the summer, we picked them, ate them, etc . . . and the plants are starting to die back. Meantime, my fathers raspberries are only fruiting now - a good 2 months after ours.

z

zagmund

Actually, there is a buggy friendly version of that site. As you approach from Blackrock, pass Booterstown DART station, then the marsh, then there's a small (really small) park just at the end of the marsh. There's a concrete walkway along one edge of the blackberry bushes right there, although the pickings wouldn't be a fraction of what you get on the other side of the bushes.

z

RebelButtMunch

Last weekend I was up at three rock. More than enough up there.

MurdyWurdy

Thanks everyone! Going out tomorrow to see what we can find

uch

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

Thanks everyone! Going out tomorrow to see what we can find

Let us know how you get on, and an idea of where you went.

MurdyWurdy

uch wrote: »

Let us know how you get on, and an idea of where you went.

Will do. Have a very cranky baby here today so really hoping I get out!

MurdyWurdy

I ended up walking around Shanganagh Park in Shankill as I was visiting relatives who live near there and we went for a walk. There were loads of blackberry bushes but they had been pretty well stripped by previous pickers. There was someone else with a buggy picking too!

We got enough for one tart but that's it. There were loads of unripened berries around so I would say there is still some picking that can be done over the next couple of weeks.

I picked in Wicklow last year and made loads of jam so think I'll need to venture off there again if I want to do some jam making, going on what I saw yesterday. It was a lovely Autumn's day though and was nice to be out in it

uch

Murdywurdy, if it's not too much trouble would you let me know how you make your Jam, I planted a Blackcurrant and a RedCurrant bush last year and got about 2 litres of mixed berries from them, I wanted to make Jam but have no idea how, and Googling gives you loads of different/contradicting variations.

MurdyWurdy

uch wrote: »

Murdywurdy, if it's not too much trouble would you let me know how you make your Jam, I planted a Blackcurrant and a RedCurrant bush last year and got about 2 litres of mixed berries from them, I wanted to make Jam but have no idea how, and Googling gives you loads of different/contradicting variations.

I do a really simple version!

First of all put your jars and lids in the oven at 50C while you make the jam to sterilise them.

Then I weigh the berries and add them to a big saucepan with an equal amount of caster sugar. Boil the mixture and then turn the heat down to a simmer, stirring every minute or so. You test to see if it is done by putting a small amount of the liquid on a plate and pulling a teaspoon away from the edge of the mixture. If it doesn't roll/drip back it's done (not sure if I've explained that well, you can prob YouTube it). Then I take the jars out of the oven, fill them with the jam and let it set overnight.

You can also sieve it to get rid of seeds/bits of fruit put I like mine lumpy

MurdyWurdy

Also, my friend went down to Wicklow over the weekend to where we picked last year and said the bushes had been stripped there too!

zagmund

#1 son does it as described by MurdyWurdy below. Same weight of jam sugar to fruit, cook, wait, pour, done. Jars are heated in the over before hand.

Alternatively you can use ordinary sugar with some apple (I think - whatever it is gives you pectin). The pectin is to help it set, so at worst you will end up with very set jam. If you skip that bit you run the risk of not setting enough.

z

uch wrote: »

Murdywurdy, if it's not too much trouble would you let me know how you make your Jam, I planted a Blackcurrant and a RedCurrant bush last year and got about 2 litres of mixed berries from them, I wanted to make Jam but have no idea how, and Googling gives you loads of different/contradicting variations.

fjon

MurdyWurdy wrote: »

I do a really simple version!

First of all put your jars and lids in the oven at 50C while you make the jam to sterilise them.

Then I weigh the berries and add them to a big saucepan with an equal amount of caster sugar. Boil the mixture and then turn the heat down to a simmer, stirring every minute or so. You test to see if it is done by putting a small amount of the liquid on a plate and pulling a teaspoon away from the edge of the mixture. If it doesn't roll/drip back it's done (not sure if I've explained that well, you can prob YouTube it). Then I take the jars out of the oven, fill them with the jam and let it set overnight.

You can also sieve it to get rid of seeds/bits of fruit put I like mine lumpy

Do you not need pectin? I guess not adding it just makes the jam runnier?

MurdyWurdy

fjon wrote: »

Do you not need pectin? I guess not adding it just makes the jam runnier?

Nope, no pectin needed. The jam sets fairly well without it, I wouldn't describe it as particularly runny

MurdyWurdy

Was up North for a few days staying in a holiday home down a country lane. There were a ridiculous amount of blackberries all along the road to the cottage. I couldn't get over it conpared to my trip the other week.

I only realised they were there as we were leaving but I picked for 15 minutes and got enough to make jam, if I use apples as well. I'm raging I didn't go for a long walk while I was there and picked loads more. I could have supplied us all!