Blackberry Cake

I don't have to guess where my children have their passion for free food. 

My youngest daughter even said to me the other night that it;s such a good year for blackberries. And they do seem particularly good this year, sweet and plentiful!  Although I did catch one of them planting blackberries in the veg garden to increase next years harvest!

Permaculture Soft Fruit?

I've been toying with an idea in my head for a few years now and wanted to experiment.

I garden with many different methods and never really stick to one, but if you're into organic gardening then sooner or later you're going to come across permaculture.

The wikipidia definition of permaculture is:-
"Permaculture is a set of design principles centered around whole systems thinking simulating or directly utilizing the patterns and resilient features observed in natural ecosystems. It uses these principles in a growing number of fields from regenerative agriculture, rewilding, community, and organizational design and development."

Blackberry Picking

Although foraging is going through something of a revival in this country we're far behind other countries. In Greece foraging for edible greens is still really popular and is called "Horta" and they're well known for being weed eaters. Other countries harvest fungi with little worry. 

One type of foraging that I don't think has ever lost it's popularity in this country is blackberry picking. I can remember doing it as a child, through my teenage years and into my twenties and now thirties as well. I should imagine there hasn't been many years when I haven't collected this free fruit from the hedgerows. 

I often see others doing it as well, there's something completely appealing about this easy to identify, tasty fruit, even if you pick an area clean one day, a few days later they are there ready to pick again! 

Eldest looking after the youngest

My children are certainly obsessed with the berry at the moment. 

There's loads by where we park the car that they have to pick at each day as they get out and we've been a few times to fill some punnets up to go in the freezer. A quick walk around the field results in another for a few apple crumbles to warm us for some autumn evenings that seem to have come all of a sudden. 

That said their tubs never come back very full! 

I love doing this with my children, it's certainly something that has been done for thousands of years and I'm sure in much the same way. I reach the high ones whilst the kids gather the low ones (and fill their faces when I'm not looking). 

Who else has been out foraging for blackberries this season? 

Is it something you did with your children?

What's your favourite food to forage?