# Picking road side Blackberries.



## myakkagldwngr (May 4, 2010)

I've been keeping an eye open for blackberries and saw some on one road I travel often. 
So today, I took my gallon size zip locks and head that way to check out what was ready.
The ones in my yard are barely a green bud right now, but these on a fence line are just loaded with berries. 
I picked probably about 500 feet of fence line and got 7 pounds. If no one beats me back to them I think in three or four days there will be close to 20 pounds.
I know that it's going to take some berries to make the wine I want to make this year from them.
I'm amazed that I still have 5 bottles left from last year.
It took some will power to do that.


----------



## xanxer82 (May 4, 2010)

They grow all along my parents property. I'm going to try to make some wine from them this year too. Even if it's only a 1 gallon batch. They also grown around Liberty Reservoir right down the road. Me and Kat and my parents are going to go picking them as soon as they are ready. 
I'll get to use my new refractometer.


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2010)

Blackberry makes an awesome wine so I implore any of you that have access to free berries to make the time to make a batch whether it be wine or Port! If making a Port add some Light Malt extract to it buy subbing out some sugar and it really helps thinken and smooth it out!


----------



## xanxer82 (May 4, 2010)

Wade E said:


> Blackberry makes an awesome wine so I implore any of you that have access to free berries to make the time to make a batch whether it be wine or Port! If making a Port add some Light Malt extract to it buy subbing out some sugar and it really helps thinken and smooth it out!



Canned ME or dry ME?


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2010)

Dry1 liquid extract is more epensive and isnt as good of a product.


----------



## Midwest Vintner (May 5, 2010)

another good blackberry trick is to add some vintners harvest merlot to it. let it age and you have a great fruity merlot. it's the best of both worlds really. we make ours semidry and it's fantastic at first bottling. even better after 3-4 years. sucks cause we drank all ours!


----------



## myakkagldwngr (May 5, 2010)

I had to go look at my daughter & SIL's roof today. We are about to replace the shingles with metal. 
On the way home I saw more berries on a fenceline and stopped to pick more. 
I ended up with another gallon size ziplock bag full.That makes three of them in the freezer now, in just two days. I'm going to keep looking and picking until the ones in my yard start producing.


----------



## mmadmikes1 (May 5, 2010)

*warning* blood is not uncommon with roadside blackberry picking.


----------



## myakkagldwngr (May 6, 2010)

Blood!! 
Your telling me...
I had just gotten finished donating Plateletts at the local blood bank. They pump me full of anticoagalants while they do that. 
Now days I think I'll bleed to death if I ever get cut bad.
But what the heck, you have to go some day, some how.
I've been donating now for about seven years, all plateletts and have donated over 43 gallons.
You can't believe how fast 2 pints every 2 weeks adds up.


----------



## Wade E (May 6, 2010)

Ooh yea! I bled alot last year!!!!!!! I was going every 2-3 days for about 3-4 weeks.


----------



## djrockinsteve (May 7, 2010)

Growing up on the farm I would take my pruners and cut my way thru the blackberry briars. Snip Snip a little at a time and I had little jabs from them and I would cut into the center where the birds couldn't even get. And guess what, they all grew back next year.


----------

