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Black Raspberries

It's official. Wild black raspberry season is on. I always hear about black raspberry season from the kids- they watch the canes like hawks and call out in triumph as the first berry blackens. For several days later they pluck the precious fruits and the whole family shares in eating them. Small handfuls at a time, doled the way kids like things doled out the best- very, very fairly.

Then come more. And more. And finally, I am ready to get my basket and get on with the serious picking. I am thinking pies first and foremost. Specifically my rhubarb and black raspberry pie which is tart and sweet and very juicy. Secondly, I am thinking raspberry jam, and my favorite raspberry jam with pears. Then I am thinking of bags in the freezer, a measure of my time and devotion spent in the field, pulling each tiny morsel of pleasure into my container until something else demands my attention. Because really for me, I have a ton and know tons of places to pick, its quite a common plant, and so my measure of berries put up directly parallels the time.

I can take and devote to the task of picking. And sometimes it beautiful and the birds are chittering and the wind is blowing ever so slightly and I am just full of berry picking bliss out there on the edge of my lawn and winding down to the woods..... And sometimes I am cussing at the mosquito's and being snagged up to heck by the prickers, all while the hot sun is beating down with fierce intensity in July, and I am sweating my butt off.... just depends really, on the day and the way things are rolling......so my bags in the freezer are a reflection of my experience that year. I will say this though. Those black raspberries are worth it, they really are.

Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) is much more common in the wild than red raspberry, the one we often find in the stores or at farmers markets. The berries love to grow in clearings in the woods, or on the edges of woods, and love moist soil- you will find them on thin canes with prickers that often bend back to the ground and take root at the tip, which makes them hard as heck to wade through to collect these precious, yummy berries. The leaves are compound with usually three leaflets and when you flip a leaf over they are downy whiter underneath. The berries are ready when they turn a dark purple/black, and they release easily from their central cone when you pull them off. In this way, you can distinguish them from blackberries which keep this cone.

The raspberry leaf itself makes a fabulous infusion or tea. Its full of calcium and vitamins, and works to nourish, tone and relax the entire pelvic region. I have seen it ease morning sickness in women with cases that are not severe.

The root of black raspberry is my favorite remedy for the goats when they have the runs. Which doesn't happen often except and when it does, it's really okay for a bit, but I don't like to see it go longer than a day.  I will just pound this root down, pour water over it and simmer it for a good hour or two and then strain, and put it in once of those big huge syringes sans needle and squirt it down their throat. Their poops are normal in no time flat.

So. Anyway. Now I have to go from poop to berries? Lovely.

So, yeah, the berries are the highlight of the plant- you can do anything with them that you would a commercial raspberry. Here are a couple of recipes and ideas to get you started:

First of all, when in doubt and when you come into a decent quantity of berries, remember you can easily just put them in quart bags and set them in the freezer. I have plenty of these and other wild berry bags and it allows for more creativity come winter as how I will cook or use them. I always have more time for this sort of thing when there is a foot of snow on the ground....
Then you can pull them out for black raspberry pancakes, or make a syrup with them for waffles (cornmeal waffles are really good with black raspberry syrup and berries) you can put them in your yogurt, you can make muffins, you can make upside down raspberry cake, stick them in the kids or your oatmeal, really, just anywhere.

Fresh, I like them with a splash of goat cream and a tiny drizzle of honey. They are good in ice cream also, though we like a black raspberry syrup over the ice cream even better. They are also good in salads, on the fresh garden greens with a balsamic dressing. Sometimes I will mush them up in soft goat cheese and spread that on homemade bagels. That's really good.
Whiz them up with yogurt and freeze for Popsicles, the kids love that.

You can even make a wild black raspberry vinegar by infusing a couple cups of berries in a quart of vinegar. Don't forget to line your lid with wax paper b/c the vinegar will corrode the top.
You can dry them, just as they are and then use them in granola, and I have made chocolate chunk cookies with dried raspberries and that was a hit. They dry pretty quickly in the dehydrator so watch them after 4 or so hours.

This is a favorite jam of mine. Its nice because it contains much less sugar than standard jam but still tastes sweet and yummy. You can take and use frozen raspberries when the pears are ready.

Pear and raspberry jam
11 or 12 cups of peeled chopped pears (about six pounds)
2 cups black raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Combine first three ingredients. Bring to boil and then simmer until thick (about two hours) add lemon juice, stir and simmer, and then put in pint jars and boil for 10 minutes.

Lemon juice is important in recipes that do not use pectin. It adds acid but also a nice flavor highlight.

And here is a really juicy dark red-purple pie that is one of my favorite pie recipes. I love fruits that follow each other in season to be melded into a pie, just like the season for one fruit blends into another. I made it for the last herbal class this Sunday. Since rhubarb season has just ended, you most likely have bags chopped in the freezer, and paired with black raspberry you can make a delicious pie that is sweet and tart and just dripping with the season.

Black raspberry and rhubarb pie
You will need a top and bottom crust
2 1/2 cups black raspberries
2 12- 3 cups rhubarb

Toss with 3/4 to 1 cup sugar, 3 tbs cornstarch, 1 tbs lemon juice. Pour in your bottom crust. Dot with butter. Weave a lattice crust over the top, and crimp the edges. Take your cookie cut outs and cut out a couple of hearts or stars and put a few over the lattice top for decoration. Brush with a tbs of cream and an egg yolk that has been whipped. Sprinkle with sugar and then bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and another 20-30 minutes at 350. It should be bubbly before you take it out.

So, any way you enjoy them, get some overalls, a long shirt and a sunhat and spend an afternoon picking in the black raspberry patches lining the woods.....

That is where you will find me this week!