Blackberry Pickin'

A few weeks back we took Anna Claire blueberry picking. As soon as we pulled up to Powell Farms that day, and I realized they had blueberries and blackberries, I knew we'd have to come back in a couple weeks when blackberries were in season and pick some of those too. And so we did...

Blackberry picking is particularly nostalgic for me. I picked them every July as a little girl; my grandfather had blackberry bushes bordering their vegetable garden and I remember running down each week to see if the once red berries, were finally ripe enough for picking.

Larry said he may have picked blackberries with his grandparents, but he couldn't remember. So he was excited to come too!

Anna Claire is a berry-picking pro. She is a skilled strawberry and blueberry picker. I'd put her basket up against my own for picking good ripe ones. She knows what to look for and is really discriminating for a three-year-old.

We were either brave or smart to go when we did. There were lots of scary looking storm clouds, and the whole way there it looked like the bottom could fall out. We were blessed, and it never did rain until our ride back home. The clouds and the week of on and off rain actually cooled things off a lot.

Mrs. Powell is very sweet. She really likes Anna Claire and remembered her from our visit with Grandma a few weeks back. She was worried we wouldn't find any because a family came before us, picking 12 quarts. She had us start at the furthermost row on the property, but we had NO problem at all filling our baskets. There were plenty of ripe berries to be found despite the week long drought and 100+ degree temps we had earlier this month.

Picking...

Watching Daddy look over her findings...

Sampling. :)