August 16th – I know I keep banging on about this, but I’ve never seen such a fine and large crop of bramble fruits as this year. Here, on the farm track beside the canal at Tamhorn, near Hopwas, the fruit was heavy on the bushes, and smelled divine.
My Grandfather used to say that bountiful crops indicated a harsh winter to come. I’m not so sure of that, but the birds and squirrels will have a ball.
August 12th – The dewberries are always earlier than the blackberries, but many folk don’t know there’s a difference. Dewberies are hairier, and consist of fewer, larger globes than their sweeter, finer counterparts. It seems to have been a good year for the bramble fruits this year, and hedgerows are spattered red and black with ripening fruits. A positive bounty for birds, squirrels and pie-makers alike.
September 11th – On cue, a couple of weeks later than the fatter, looser dewberries, the blackberries around Stonnall are ripening and being picked by foragers and birds alike. Blackberries are smaller, sweeter and stronger tasting; a more dense fruit, the individual ‘buds’ that make up the fruit (called ‘drupelets’) are smaller. Blackberies are also more whiskery than dewberries.
All are good to eat, and are adding to the tapestry of fruits and seeds smattering the hedgerows and thickets right now, along with hips, haws and seeds.
August 11th – Oh my, the Autumnal signals are coming thick and fast now. Just as Home Farm are harvesting their wheat crop at Sandhills, I notice the hedgerow laden with brambles, both blackberry and dewberry. The dewberries, like those above, tend to come first – their fruit is slightly larger, less firm and has less globes than the smaller, sweeter blackberry. Soon this hedgerow will be laden with black fruit, a feast for birds, foxes and me, too. I do like a blackberry and apple pie…
June 23rd – I braved a very windswept Brownhills Common today, and tore around it. It’s ages since I’ve been up there, and it was fun to throw the bike around the muddy tracks. The plant life is gorgeous there at the moment. So many species, just begging for your attention. This remarkably complex flower is a common bramble. I’m not sure if this is blackberry, or dewberry, and won’t be until it fruits. Brambles like this are incredibly important, as many types of butterfly and moth feed from them. So beautiful, so often overlooked.
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