COLUMN: Ramblings: Mother Nature’s gift

Years ago, when I was a kid, mid-July was the middle of summer. We had six weeks left before school started. There were many days to play in the creek, explore the woods, ride our bikes, lay in the shade of a tree and read a book, or see what adventures we could conjure up.

My brother Red was very good at creating adventures for us. Of course, there were also days when mom or dad would hand out a list of chores. Those days, we spent cleaning the barn, cutting grass, weeding the garden or picking vegetables from the garden.

Then there were hot hours spent in the kitchen helping mom “can” the vegetables we produced in those long rows we hoed. Picking blackberries was another task for mid-July.

Blackberries! They are one of the best gifts Mother Nature bestows upon us mortals. We do have to put a bit of effort into gathering the luscious fruits from the evil brambles.

The rewards are many. Just for a moment, envision a chilly winter morning. There is a big fluffy biscuit, fresh from the oven, slathered in blackberry jam sitting on your plate for breakfast!

Picking blackberries was a family adventure. Everyone attended the event. If you were tall enough to reach the branches loaded with the juicy black jewels, you had a bucket to fill.

If you weren’t, you just tagged along. One of the pickers would stick a berry in your mouth occasionally. It was perfectly allowed to eat a few as we picked. So many memories of sunny days and good times spent with the family on berry picking days.

When I bought my piece of forest in the ’90s, the huge old trees had been logged. Gaps in the canopy let sunlight reach the forest floor. Blackberries were among the first plants to appear.

Before long, the brambles grew thick, and by the second year, they were producing berries. Walking through them was nearly impossible, but they served an important purpose. They and other plants helped hold the topsoil in place.

Logging done hastily and without regard for the forest’s health is devastating. The wildlife panicked because their habitat had been destroyed. The critters that remained quickly took advantage of the berries.

If I wanted a few for a pie I had to be quick to pick. Picking is easy now. My son put a half mile driveway down the edge of my property back to his place.

The berries are thick on both sides of that road; in some places they arch over the drive. I can pick the black fruit from some of those briars without getting out of the car! But that is cheating.

Blackberries are not only delicious, they are also nutritious. They give us manganese, calcium and vitamins E, C and K. Spring came early this year and so did the black berries.

When you read this in mid-July most of them will be gone. There is always next year!

’til next time.

Annie