It takes a tough woman to collect these tender berries

You might wonder why, even with a mini farm in my backyard, I still choose to strike out every day and hack my way into a buggy, briar-filled copse in search of wild forage — not just any forage, but a very special edible: wild blackcaps, also known around here (incorrectly) as blackberries and black raspberries.

(What’s the difference among these three kinds of summer berries? You’ll have to look up that information yourself. The difference is subtle; for the purposes of this article, it’s enough to know that we’re talking about blackcaps).

Blackcaps are oozingly sweet and flavorful and are the essential secret ingredient in making good raspberry jam. Jam made only with raspberries is too simple and straightforward; when you sneak in some blackcaps or blackberries, you suddenly intensify the berry flavor and syrupy sweetness.

There are two downsides to eating wild summer blackcaps (which began to appear on roadsides and at farmstands in early July and will continue up to but not past Labor Day). First, they do have a lot of small, hard seeds, which like to embed themselves in your teeth. Second, if you want to pick them yourself, you really have to put on full body armor to protect yourself from the elements. Nature doesn’t want to share this particular fruit, apparently.

I invited Lakeville Journal copy editor/writer Tara Kelly out to pick berries with me last week, at my secret berry patch in Sharon. You’re not going to find directions to that patch in this article, by the way. If you haven’t noticed, the subtheme of this article is Do It Yourself. It’s part of the adventure of picking blackcaps. If you don’t want to put forth a fairly serious amount of effort, you should stop reading here and search for blackberries and blackcaps at one of our excellent local farm markets, such as Paley’s in Sharon. Don’t be surprised if the price for them is very high; as you will see if you continue reading, it ain’t easy picking wild summer fruit. You are in a very real sense paying for the fruits of someone else’s labor when you eat farmstand blackberries and blackcaps.

So, the first thing you have to do is find your own blackcap patch. Usually they are hidden at the edge of overgrown patches in your yard and along dirt roads, where they can get plenty of sun but where they are free to sprawl. Blackberries and blackcaps are very much an invasive plant, which is part of the reason, I suppose, why their flavor is so intense. I’ve tried in the past to cultivate my wild blackcaps, to carefully dig them up and place them lovingly in superior soil (that I can access more easily). My efforts always fail. The transplanted vines always die. Which is why, if you want to pick blackcaps, you have to find them first. Next year, start looking for them in late spring; their long swooping stalks will be covered with beautiful white flowers — and intimidating thick thorns.

Eventually the flowers will turn into berries. The thorns will still be thorns, however, which is why I instructed Tara to come fully dressed in combat gear. That translated for us both into: heavy-weight pants (jeans for her, corduroys for me), knee-high Wellington-style rubber boots, two shirts (an undershirt topped with a collared button down with long sleeves), a broad brimmed hat or a kerchief to keep the bugs out of your hair and ears and a pair of gardening gloves.

The clothing you wear should be disposable. Whatever button-down shirt you choose will be shredded by the thorns. Whatever pants you wear will become stained with berry juice.

Tara and I were lucky last week when we went berry hunting. The weather was cool and the bugs were scarce. We headed down the road, our four dogs padding along behind us. I always like to bring my dog, not only because it’s good exercise for her but also because I figure she’ll do the Lassie thing if I fall and can’t get up.

Because this is the most important thing to remember if you’re foraging: The twisting roots and groundbound branches of the blackcap bushes can easily entangle your feet, causing you to fall over and harm one of your limbs. The bushes often spring up on knobby hillsides, with holes and dips that are hidden by the thorny branches. Blackcaps and blackberries also frequently grow up around stone walls — and often those walls are crumbling and are hidden under branches, leaves, slippery moss.

Always let someone know when you’re going out and where you think you’ll be, and leave instructions for them to come find you if you’ve been gone for more than 30 minutes. If I were a truly practical person, I would advise you to bring a cell phone — and a flashlight, especially if you’re foraging at the cool end of the day, just before dusk.

For more outdoorsy people, picking blackcaps and blackberries is probably not the challenging wilderness adventure that it is for me. I wouldn’t say I’m a great friend of nature. I don’t like to swim in ponds and lakes.  I don’t like to ride my bike on the open road. I don’t especially enjoy hiking.

But I do love picking berries in the wild.

Visit www.tcextra.com for a recipe for chicken with blackberries and maple syrup.

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