Berry Picking

Hullo! The three of us are going blackberry picking today!! We have lots of buckets... two 4 litre (1 gallon) white yogurt buckets and a metal pail and a littler plastic bucket... our goal is to fill the mall up!

 And we're off!! We have a few good patches in mind...

Mmmm... this looks pretty good. The first blackberries are always the fattest and plumpest.

 Oh yum... blackberry pie, jam, liqueur, syrup, strudel, crumble... did I mention pie?

 Oh, and we brought Rose along!

That is one huge blackberry!

 Sooo... yes... we did fill up the yogurt buckets (both of them) and we have almost filled this metal pail!

 They are soooo yummy!

But we are all hot now... and the humans are not only hot... but sweaty and covered in blackberry juice sooo...

 We did a trip to the river too!

We didn't go in the water though... nor did we have the good ship Rubbermaid... but we still had fun!

Tis the season for... berry-picking!

Good morning bears and not-a-bears! It is 6:30 am and I've been told that we are on a beary important mission. Mama has been scoping out the situation and it is officially... the start of blackberry season!

Yes indeedy... the first of the luscious blackberries are ready to pick.

It didn't take long to get 1/4 of the bucket filled... but we need some more.

 This looks like a good branch! I... of course... do not touch blackberries except to have them fed to me (like someone fed grapes to Cleopatra)... blackberries are super juicy and I don't think juice stains would come off my fur beary well!

While we were picking... I noticed some chicory plants. This is a European weed that's been introduced to North America. Apparently you can use the roots to make a coffee substitute... but... the reason I was interested in them was...

Do you see it???

The bees love chicory too - see that bee in the one flower? They were moving around so fast though it was hard to get a good picture.

 Anyhow... there we go... a bucket of blackberries. Admittedly it is not a huge bucket - only 1/2 gallon I think. But in the afternoon Mama and her partner went picking again and came away with 2.5 gallons... Freezing all of these! Except... of course... for the ones that got eaten during the picking. Quality control you know!

Wood and Berries

Well... I am off on an adventure. Mama whisked me away from my beary good book and off we went on her bike. We are on a mission apparently...

We have a small bucket...

An ax...

 An ax??? Really??? I hope we have a first aid kit too!!

And a pruning saw.

Are we pruning somewhere?? Or chopping something?

We are down by the abandoned farm... Mama says we need some apple wood. Old apple wood. Dry apple wood. Why??? She won't tell me... sigh.

Well, this old limb is pretty dry and dead. Will that do??

Yup... and now it's time to do some sawing... ugh....

Ummm... I am not a lumberjack! I think I need some help...

Well... there we go... a chunk of apple wood...

Now, back into the backpack... with the ax and the saw and the bucket... and the chunk of wood. It's getting crowded in here!

Along the way, we stopped to check on the apples This old tree is pretty cool... it fell over long ago but kept on growing.

The apples are coming along nicely. Soon we can pick some and make apple sauce!

And... hmm... those aren't apples up there... I wonder what those are?

Ohhhh... I know what those are... those are blackberries!!!

It's blackberry season!!! But I am not going in there... no way, no how. Look at those thorns! I would have the stuffing ripped out of me...Nobody told me to wear jeans and a long-sleeved shirt...

I will just sit here by the bike and guard the bucket lid. Off you go, Mama... go for it!!! I'll be the cheering section.

Oh... they do look delicious!!!

Well... that is not toooo bad... they are delicious! Not like the hard, under-done things you get in the stores sometimes.

And yes... there were some scratches... Did we have a first-aid kit? Nooo.... Mama took it out of the backpack because it was too heavy and took up too much room. Sigh... Next time she promises to wear jeans... Uh-huh... Another case for Dr. Sandy MB!

By the way... any ideas what we are going to do with old apple wood??

Bluebeary Baker

OK... today is the day. I have been watching Jerry & Ben baking all sorts of yummy things and... today is the day! I am going to help Mama bake bluebeary tarts! Yummm!!! We might be running low on honey, but these will definitely keep a little bear happy for a while.

First - clear a good space on the countertop.

Then - get some bluebearies... these were wild ones that Mama picked in 2011... wild bluebearies are the bestest! They've been kept in the freezer and we even brought them with us to the island.

There we go... bluebearies are ready...

Now, we measure out 2 cups of bluebearies... more or less...

Then pour them into a pot... because they're frozen and need to get unfrozen.

You can also check to see if there are any twigs or pine needles or caterpillars that Mama picked as well... This batch looks pretty clean.

Now you put the pot on the stove and on about medium heat... (Note: the white electrical cord is going to the slow cooker which is sitting on the stove as well - cause we needed counter space. This is not a good idea but Mama made sure the cord didn't get anywhere near the hot element!)

Now what... well... we need to make some tarts. We could try to convince you that we baked up a batch of pie dough and made the tarts by hand but... heh-heh... I'll just step aside and show you what we are going to use.

Mini-tart shells!!! Frozen ones... Ben the Baker would probably make pie dough by hand but... I am just a novice baker bear!

So... you take the shells out of the box and separate them...

And put them on a cookie sheet... they have to thaw for a bit and then they can go in the oven.

Meanwhile - we also need to get the sugar and the corn starch ready.

Oh, and remember to stir the bluebearies...

They are starting to thaw... see the juice forming?

Ahhh.... sugar!!! Almost as good as honey!

Anyhow - we need a half a cup of sugar - and the measuring cup is a bit old so we are having to eye-ball it a bit.

And stir the bluebearies again...

And get some cornstarch... we're going to need to add some cold water to it... otherwise we'll have lumpy tarts!

And stir the bluebearies again!

And get the tarts shells out of the oven. Whew... things are moving quickly now!

So, there is our corn starch mixture... and the tarts are cooling a bit.

When the bluebearies start bubbling, put in the sugar, stir vigorously... then add the corn starch until the mixture thickens... That looks good!

And now I get to spoon the bluebeary mixture into the tarts... I have to be careful because I am wearing a white t-shirt!!

Ta-dah!!! All done... now they just need to cool for a bit... 18 of them...

Oh wait... now there's only 17 of them!!