The blackberries were thick this past summer. I guess we had just the right balance of sun and rain at the ideal times for fruit production. I've never seen so many really good berries on the farm. Anyway, I'd decided to make homemade gifts for family and friends this year. I'd already been working on cucumber and watermelon pickles and have always thought blackberry preserves are summer in a jar, so.......
This large patch was in a fence row between the back hay field and the place where we store round bales for the winter. Normally, there's no fruit along this fence because cattle are in this field, but the past two years they've been in other pasture. Over two days, I picked a couple of gallons of fruit, made an awesome blackberry cake (recipe here), and started canning preserves.
I put up the preserves in small half cup jars so more friends could get a taste of blackberry come December. Then I entered them in the judged exhibits at our local county fair, along with some photos that included hunting shots. The judges must've liked the looks of my canned goodies. Not to brag, but those ribbons are all for my stuff. Country living is good. Jeremiah Johnson was advised to move down to a city to avoid the trouble he had with Indians in one of my favorite movies. Robert Redford expressed my feelings perfectly when he replied, "I've been to a city."
