Blackberry Season.

There is something so nostalgic about blackberry season. It is our true indicator of welcoming Autumn time into our lives. We go out for our walks, with the dogs or the school run,  whatever it maybe and we see all of these beautiful colours of the berries along the ditches , really gives us that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

 

This is the time our mind can transport us back to picking the blackberries ourselves as children, with parents or even grandparents. The memory of the nana or aunt who always made the jam. Here at The Baby Closet we are all about carrying on traditions with our own children so this time of year gives us a perfect chance to do just that!

 

The berry.

A blackberry is an edible soft fruit consisting of a cluster of soft purple-black drupelets. They grow in clusters on brambles which are prickly shrubs or vines belonging to the rose family. Now there are loads of different varieties of blackberries including a thornless variety but I am just talking about your standard wild blackberries you see down every boreen in Ireland at this time of year.

The blackberry also offers many health benefits. They are jam packed (pun intended) with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Vitamin C, Vitamin K and Manganese just to name a few with just one cup of raw blackberries containing 30.2 milligrams of Vitamin C. The berry itself is also incredibly high in fiber, something most people definitely dont have enough of in their diets.

So is this little gem that we find rampant in our beautiful country the new ‘superfood’? It definitely packs a punch in terms of nutrients and it would be very easy to add into our diets whether it be on their own, within a smoothie or as a topper to your favorite porridge on a cold morning. We also must not forget our foraging finds can also be frozen after being washed.

 

 

 

The right time.

The time to pick the berries would be before September runs out in my opinion – I was never sure why I had that opinion, probably again just something ‘they say’.

Kitty Scully for The Irish Examiner referenced why in an article, she wrote:

There are superstitions around picking berries after the end of September.

It is said that they are to be left for the fairies, (or the Púca) and in English folklore it is said that after then, the devil has spat on them.

This also coincides with the fact that the berries tend to be mouldy and quite unappetising by that stage.

 

Her full article is linked here:

https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/gardening/autumn-is-the-berries–go-pick-208237.html

 

 

 

The Care.

A teaspoon of common sense is always required when doing something like picking a wild berry with the intention of eating it, especially when children are involved.

• Always only pick fruit that you can confidently indentify and that are fully ripe. (Nature is am amazing thing but not all wild Irish berries are edible, so if in doubt, definately leave it out).
• Avoid picking from areas on very busy public roads or any other high pollution areas.
• Always wash thoroughly.
• Follow the country code and have respect for your surroundings. Do not litter and try to leave the area as close to the way it was before you arrived as possible.
• Take only what you need. Leave some for the birds. Be grateful and enjoy.

 

 

 

The experience:

From eyeing up which ditches near our house we where going to hit for the few days prior to picking, to the selecting of the bucket of choice for collecting them, I can honestly say that the excitement was something to behold. All of us went off anyway with our carefully selected array of apparatus as chosen by the 4 year old and off we went.

 

Each of us had our wellies on so it was only added fun that as we rounded the corner to our destination , what did we find? Puddles. Excellent. Finally an opportunity to let loose and jump like crazy with the kids in the puddles instead of the usual steering around them and promising ‘the next day’.

 

It took all of about 2 seconds for a competition to emerge of who was going to collect the most, or the best berries and so on!

 

 

 

Would you believe at the very same time we were berry picking, a cousin of ours happened to arrive collecting his own berries for an adult beverage he was creating! (thats a story for another day!) . But again all just adding to the family fun element of what was going on.

So we gathered our harvest and walked home proud as punch with ourselves to start our next phase.

 

The jam.

Jam is a thick sweet food that is made by cooking fruit with a large amount of sugar usually spread on bread. Long before fridges became essential appliances in every home, there was a long tradition of food preservation. Then when sugar was introduced to Europe, Jam was born! ( In a nutshell).

Now a master chef or confectioner I most definately am not – so I took the simplest steps I could to follow a fool proof way to make jam. ( I followed the guidelines printed on the side of the jam sugar packet ).  If you want to follow a professional and may I say much healthier recipe, Deliciously Ella has an amazing recipe for berry chia jam. Pictured below is Deliciously Ellas banana pancakes served with homemade jam.

 

Click the link here to check it out!

https://deliciouslyella.com/2013/02/12/vegan-banana-pancakes-gluten-free-dairy-free-sugar-free

 

 

The process:

Get the berries home, wash them, remove any little bits of stalks, leaves or wildlife etc.

Que the return of my grandmothers mixing bowl (seen regularly on our Instagram stories!)

 

 

 

 

Mash the berries until you reach your desired consistency. My daughter claiming to be traumatized by last years lumpy jam, has insisted on a smoother consistency this year, so we did give it a TINY blitz in the bowl with the hand blender.

 

 

 

 

We then came to the conclusion we had roughly 1kg of mashed berries, which worked out perfectly as the jam sugar comes in a 1kg bag and the guidelines call for equal parts sugar and fruit. So we chucked the sugar in the pot !

(Our recipe is curtesy of Gem Jam Sugar, which I paid €2.65 for in my local tesco, but is in Irish company so we are all winning, but again you can use whatever you prefer)

 

 

 

 

Gently heat the mixture while stirring until the jam sugar is dissolved. Add a knob of real butter. Keep stirring.

 

 

 

 

Bring to a rigorous boil stirring like a mad woman for 4 mins (ish)

 

 

 

 

Remove from the heat and pot in usual way. Our pots are not the prettiest for photography purposes but they where a recycling project for the kids. My daughter collected the jars herself over the last two weeks or so leading up to this. She washed and dryed them herself  and she enjoyed that that was her job to do.

 

And there you have it The Baby Closets blackberry jam!

 

 

 Heres what we learned through this experience :

• The kids had a full day of fun at the cost of one bag of jam sugar.
• We have created a new tradition and experience we can enjoy making memories with our children annually.
• This was an educational experience for our girls, they learned about nature, food and recycling all while having fun.
• They are proud of themselves – they love the feeling of handing off the jar they collected and washed themselves , with the jam they made from the berries they picked to the friend or family member.

 

This is all in good fun but there is a whole world of nature outside each one of our front doors for us and our children to enjoy. Lets make the most of it even in this coming colder months!

Deal?