Can't beat them? Join them.

I wandered in the garden yesterday and ate blackberries straight off the vine for breakfast. They tasted amazing. Where the unseasonably warm weather here in BC made the local blueberries a little tougher and smaller, the blackberries seemed to thrive.

There have always been a few stubborn, rogue blackberry vines in the garden (most gardeners struggle with them!). I decided to run with them. I let them stay. I kept them trimmed, built a bamboo grid for them to grown on, and saw them flourish – no watering required.

This year looks like a bumper crop. We will pick fresh berries most of the summer as they ripen in phases. I sampled the first batch yesterday. They are particularly sweet and full in flavor. I’ll add them to crisps and pies in addition to enjoying them on yogurt and ice cream. And just from vine-to-hand too, in the early quiet of the morning garden.