Berry, Berry Good Day!

The Bayou saw a stormy weather system move in today making it far too messy to continue working the gardens.  I did manage to sneak out in between the storms and pick a lovely bucketful of blackberries!  These are up on a fence so the picking was easy other than getting a mite wet from the soggy leaves.  Michael and I made quick work of the harvesting since another thunder-boomer was building on the horizon.  Once inside, I weighed the berries and found that we had nearly eleven pounds!  Such beauties!  I could not help but pop far too many in my mouth as I was picking but I used the rationale that they WERE washed by the rain!

After picking the berries, I thought of how many folks had a hand in my raising these things.  I received my first rootstock from Dad.  He had a nice long fence-row in the backyard that produced masses of berries each year.  Then, my Uncle Alfred and Aunt Marie shared a few more roots with me.  This extended my row a good bit and soon I was able to get enough for a pie with every picking!  A few more roots were added by two other uncles!  My Uncle John and Uncle Jim were kind enough to let me dig up some of their "extras" so my row grew and grew!  Now I am able to share berries and rootstocks with many folks just as my family shared with me.  I suppose these berry vines will keep on bringing happiness as long as the plants are given to true gardeners..those who love to share!

All of this got me to thinking about these berries.  I had always called them "Blackberries".  I grew up with this and never considered them to be anything else.  Then my cousin told me that she thought they were "Boysenberries".  Hmmm..this very well could be true!  Looking up about the Boysenberry, I found that it is a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry.  They were first propagated by their namesake, Rudolf Boysen.  After several years of perfecting the berry, Mr. Boysen sold his farm and abandoned the vines.  Later, Walter Knott came in possession of the few remaining vines.  By this time, the vines were weakly and needed extra care to bring them back to the healthy producers that they once were.  Mr. Knott worked hard and soon was selling the berries.  He dubbed them Boysenberries after the original owner.  Later, this same Mr. Knott and his wife started making preserves from the berries and it was those preserves that gave fame to the Knott's Berry Farms!  Small world, indeed!  Now, I am not claiming that my vines are direct descendants of those famous Boysenberries but hey, it makes for a good story!  AND..I do believe that my hand-me-down vines are producing just as tasty (if not better) berries as any of those on some famous farm! So...Blackberry..Boysenberry...who cares?!!  It matters not to me! Into my mouth goes another berry!  Yum!