Black Berry Season in Sonoma County.

It's Blackberry time here in Sonoma County. They grow wild on just about every county road. When we were kids growing up in Petaluma my whole family would go out picking every summer at this time. We would take a can about the size and shape of a paint can and wire it to our belt loops. or belts. You need to have both hands free to be effective as a berry picker. There would be a 5 gallon bucket that we would dump into. When it was full it was time to go home. Home made black berry jam OH MAN. And black berry ice cream, nothing like it. Pick the ones that get full sun. We used to take an aluminum ladder with us to get out into the middle of the bushes. Now I use just a 1' wide 8' long piece of plywood to mash the bushes down and make my way into the middle of them.

sound like fun and a lot of picking. How much would you say a 5gal. bucket of berries would yield if you made the jam. and do you have a recipe to share with us ,who are interested in making home made jam.
thanks for posting.
Alex

Sounds like a good family event. Got any more details like what are some productive areas safe for kids? Thx.

Peace & Blessings!

We were picking Berries last weekend when my wife starting yelling at the dog, our youngest chocolate Lab ate ALL of them. Both our labs have a sweet tooth.
Jeff

A few more pointers:

Berries seem to be best from about the third week in July to the third week in August.

Don't think because all the berries on a bush aren't ripe that you shouldn't pick. Many berries of the wild Himalayan variety (the predominate roadside berry) will never ripen. If they come off fairly easily pick them.

Don't think you shouldn't pick if the berries aren't sweet. You will need to add sugar to make jams and pies anyway. The flavor will be there. And when you are cooking them for jam the smell is amazing.

Don't let picked berries sit around thinking they will get riper and sweeter. They won't they will mold. Use them as soon as you can or freeze them for later use.

If you are looking for bushes to pick and the berries aren't quite ripe head for the warmer areas of the county like Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, if on the other hand you have are picking a little late you can try the cooler areas like Sebastopol, Valley Ford, etc.

About the only place you won't find blackberries growing wild along the roadside in Sonoma County is in the city limits. Driving around finding the bushes is part of the fun. If you want to take a bike ride in the process and be completely away from cars the bike path that runs from Santa Rosa to Forestville is lined by blackberries in many areas especially around Sebastopol.

Even if you don't pick a whole bunch a blackberry and Gravenstein apple pie is the bomb. My wife does all the caning and baking so I will work on getting a few recipes from her. We made jam one time without pectin and it was too concentrated. Now always use pectin. My father used to make freezer jam because he couldn't be bothered with the canning process. You make the jam the same way just freeze it instead of canning. I like canning because we give away small jars around Christmas.

If you have found some great bushes but others have been there before you that's when you need that board to stand on and work your way into the bushes.

Use a master bucket or large pot to store your berries when picking. Nothing is worse than having a good size bucket full and dumping them. I't easy to do when scrambling around the bushes. So if you pick about a quart at a time and dump them into a large bucket that is in your car it will save you that grief.

It's Blackberry time here in Sonoma County. They grow wild on just about every county road. When we were kids growing up in Petaluma my whole family would go out picking every summer at this time. We would take a can about the size and shape of a paint can and wire it to our belt loops. or belts. You need to have both hands free to be effective as a berry picker. There would be a 5 gallon bucket that we would dump into. When it was full it was time to go home. Home made black berry jam OH MAN. And black berry ice cream, nothing like it. Pick the ones that get full sun. We used to take an aluminum ladder with us to get out into the middle of the bushes. Now I use just a 1' wide 8' long piece of plywood to mash the bushes down and make my way into the middle of them.

A few more pointers:

Berries seem to be best from about the third week in July to the third week in August.

Don't think because all the berries on a bush aren't ripe that you shouldn't pick. Many berries of the wild Himalayan variety (the predominate roadside berry) will never ripen. If they come off fairly easily pick them.

Don't think you shouldn't pick if the berries aren't sweet. You will need to add sugar to make jams and pies anyway. The flavor will be there. And when you are cooking them for jam the smell is amazing.

Don't let picked berries sit around thinking they will get riper and sweeter. They won't they will mold. Use them as soon as you can or freeze them for later use.

If you are looking for bushes to pick and the berries aren't quite ripe head for the warmer areas of the county like Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, if on the other hand you have are picking a little late you can try the cooler areas like Sebastopol, Valley Ford, etc.

About the only place you won't find blackberries growing wild along the roadside in Sonoma County is in the city limits. Driving around finding the bushes is part of the fun. If you want to take a bike ride in the process and be completely away from cars the bike path that runs from Santa Rosa to Forestville is lined by blackberries in many areas especially around Sebastopol.

Even if you don't pick a whole bunch a blackberry and Gravenstein apple pie is the bomb. My wife does all the caning and baking so I will work on getting a few recipes from her. We made jam one time without pectin and it was too concentrated. Now always use pectin. My father used to make freezer jam because he couldn't be bothered with the canning process. You make the jam the same way just freeze it instead of canning. I like canning because we give away small jars around Christmas.

If you have found some great bushes but others have been there before you that's when you need that board to stand on and work your way into the bushes.

Use a master bucket or large pot to store your berries when picking. Nothing is worse than having a good size bucket full and dumping them. I't easy to do when scrambling around the bushes. So if you pick about a quart at a time and dump them into a large bucket that is in your car it will save you that grief.

5 Gallon bucket would make about 2.5 gallons of jam when using pectin. We usually follow the recipe that comes with the pectin but we add a little less sugar.

They are just starting to come into season in the foothills as well.

I saw a thornless variety at Home Depot today and thought why didn't anyone listen to Mendel!

Oh well, my daughter gets a kick out of watching and repeating me. "MMM, ow,mmm, ouch, mmm, ow...."

 

Thanks Michael for posting up the details. I now of a few spots here in San Jose where theres big bush of the berries. I always think about picking them, which i have just for tasting, but really didn't know what to do with them after word. I just started to experiment with canning and i made my first batch of caned salmon and now i like to try making jams. I used a pressure cooker for the salmon, would i use it for jams.






thank again for the post.

Alex/alien

I use a cut off gal water  jug with strap over neck and a leather glove. On left hand  grab branch: pick away  we're. On third pie already

I just made one of these, going to try it this afternoon.
http://www.instructables.com/id/BERRY-PICKER/
 I kayak for my berries lots of bushes along the river.
I use recycled berry boxes keeps them from crushing each other, when they get wet they mold pretty fast,keep in the fridge for 10 days or so if you don't wash or crush.

I just made one of these, going to try it this afternoon.
http://www.instructables.com/id/BERRY-PICKER/
 I kayak for my berries lots of bushes along the river.
I use recycled berry boxes keeps them from crushing each other, when they get wet they mold pretty fast,keep in the fridge for 10 days or so if you don't wash or crush.

Hi mickfish,
long time Mann let me know how well it works. looks like it would be some thing i like to try and make and use on the hard to get berries

I grew up in Petaluma as well. Lived by the train tracks where the berries were plentiful. My dad and my brother and I would go out and load up. Mom would make killer pies. One of my favorites was a bowl full of berries, pour in half & half ( like you would milk with cereal ) and sprinkle sugar on top.

Thanks for the post!

Anthony

We were picking Berries last weekend when my wife starting yelling at the dog, our youngest chocolate Lab ate ALL of them. Both our labs have a sweet tooth.
Jeff

Thats called a Lab Tax......  as they see it they should get every tenth perfect berry or....they will take them all 

Theres A great spot to pick on the Albion River!! .... Just make sure you pull your kayak completely on to dry land!

We're getting berries out here in Guerneville now, too.  We make 2 types of blackberrry cordial, one with vodka and the other with brandy (Korbel, just down the road) & spices.  Over vanilla ice cream---over the top!