Picking Blackberries

Jenan Jones Benson

(published in Our State magazine, June 2000)

Blackberries! Whether homegrown or store bought, cultivated or wild, they say summer like nothing else. Even the United States Postal Service devoted a stamp to their splendor. Blackberry picking is an experience not to be missed.

And in the South, the arrival of ripe blackberries in summer signaled the season’s sweetest moment. As a child, I eagerly anticipated blackberry picking time. Living in a former one-room schoolhouse, we were fortunate to have both blackberries and strawberries, once cultivated, growing wild on the property. As I ventured in the woods, I checked the canes for blossoms, for green, red and finally deep purple fruits.

My delight was twofold. Delectable as the juicy berries were, picking time rendered a sight otherwise unseen: Mama in pants! At the time, Mama always wore dresses and very reluctantly let me don jeans. But, when the berries ripened, she would slip on a pair of my discarded pants to ward off thorns and creeping insects. We kids barely could contain our glee well enough to navigate the trailing vines.

Not all Tar Heels have such memories. Some associate blackberries with bad luck, while others have never tried them. When Bellamy family-owned Indigo Farms in Calabash began growing blackberries 15 years ago, many customers at their popular produce market had to be educated. “Once introduced,” Sam Bellamy says, “people came to value them.”

Alice Day’s Gothic Gardening reports that these brambles have suffered in folklore for centuries. A blackberry vine is the villain in Greek mythology. Bellerophon is shunned from society when he takes a spill from Pegasus. Landing on the thorny cane, he is blinded. Some European folk tales consider these berries as fairy fruits and thus forbidden to mere mortals. Others view them as death fruits.

According to legend, a dream of being pricked by a blackberry thorn foretells being hurt by both friends and unknown enemies. If blood is shed, expect large business losses.

Blackberries are even maligned in Christian tales. Some believe they formed Christ’s crown of thorns and that their dark color depicts His blood. One tale maintains that the blackberry lost its beauty after Lucifer fell from heaven onto the plant. The bramble has been used in religious art to demonstrate spiritual neglect. The Bible uses the berries in a caution against false prophets.

Fortunately, due in part to increased demand for healthy foods, the blackberry is shedding its miserable reputation. Bellamy says, “When I think of the blackberry, I think of nutrition.” They’re packed with it.

With the highest fiber content of all berries, one cup provides nearly one-fourth of the daily nutritional requirement. At only 60 calories per serving, blackberries provide half the Vitamin C needed each day and cancer-fighting ellagic acid to boot. They’re often enjoyed as jam or jelly and make delicious toppings for cereal and desserts. Many consider blackberries to the quintessential filling for cobblers.

These berries belong to a group of plants known as brambles. Part of the rose family, brambles spawn pretty blossoms and leaf clusters along with thorns. Loganberries and raspberries fall into the same family.

Blackberries thrived in North Carolina long before the Europeans arrived. Indigenous people feasted on the 11 species originating here for thousands of years. Today, these wild fruits, sometimes called dewberries, are still found throughout the region.

In the 1930s, the U. S. Department of Agriculture sponsored breeding programs. North Carolina experiment stations began developing cultivated varieties. These improved plants are the basis of the commercial industry throughout the United States. Berry lovers and growers credit the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville with the bramble’s recent rise in status. New cultivars developed by Razorback scientists are offer possible increased availability.

Honoring the Native American people who first snacked upon blackberries, the Arkansas cultivars bear their names. The team’s most exciting innovation is the thornless erect berry. The Navaho variety was released in 1988 and offered a distinct advantage over the world’s first thornless: It needed no staking. Navaho’s shelf life of up to three weeks greatly exceeds other varieties’ three to four days. Shawnee, offering very productive plants and large berries, is the most popular type in the United States. Describing the world’s largest variety, Kiowa, Bellamy draws a long breath and sighs, “It’s big.”

Although the United States is the world’s top producer, blackberries are not a major crop here in the Tar Heel state. Still, wild and cultivated vines thrive in all regions of North Carolina. Throughout the state, farmers grow them for direct sales, farmers’ markets and commercial purposes.

One of the more unusual markets in our state is MacPherson’s Farm Fresh Vegetables & Fruits in Lumberton. When personnel are unavailable, MacPherson’s “honor system” takes charge. Customers choose their produce and leave payment at the stand. “People are enthralled with it and come back year after year,” owner Jeff MacPherson says.

Kildeer Farms, on the other hand, leaves cashiering to the professionals. Ervin Lineberger grows seven varieties on his 11 acres in Kings Mountain. Most are sold to the Matthews-based Harris-Teeter supermarket chain.

Indigo Farms employs the direct market approach. Its large, highly visible operation near the South Carolina line offers pre-picked and pick-your-own berries. Strong believers in blending rural and city life, the Bellamys offer farm tours and special events.

All three growers offer pick-your-own services and are staunch supporters of berry pickers. “These types of traditional experiences are very important,” Bellamy says. “We have lots of people who picked berries growing up and now bring their children to relive the memories.” He admits that the blackberry isn’t the easiest crop he grows. ”You must have programs for disease management and weed control,” he says.

The most significant difficulty facing North Carolina blackberry growers today is a disease called double blossom. Borne by a fungus, this plight has forced some out of the bramble business. To help combat these roadblocks, Bellamy has planted diverse varieties on his blackberry farm as “each has its own strengths and weaknesses.”

Despite these difficulties, blackberries can be grown successfully by home gardeners, as well. Brambles are largely overlooked by homeowners, but offer an advantage over shrubs and vines: They’re edible landscaping. Once established, the plants will live, sport beautiful blooms and produce fruit for many years.

Gardeners may choose semitrailing, thornless berries or erect. The thornless variety is best for areas in which winter temperatures don’t drop below zero. A drawback of this type is the need for staking the trailing vines. The erect varieties can tolerate more of winter’s chill and ripen earlier than their thornless cousins.

The N.C. Cooperative Service recommends several varieties. Among the erect type, Shawnee, Cherokee and Cheyenne grow well throughout the state. All three are quite hardy and produce large, sweet fruit. Suggestions among the semitrailing, thornless vines are Dirksen Thornless and Hull Thornless. Dirksen produces semitart fruit and is moderately hardy. Hull, with its large, sweet berries, is best grown in the warmer parts of the state. Try Navaho to combine the advantages of the thornless and erect types.

On the Fourth of July a few years ago, I found myself in an automobile salvage yard. My new husband just had to find that one elusive part to complete his classic Buick. Blackberries saved Independence Day for me, however. As hubby combed the vehicular graveyard, I filled an obsolete hubcap with them.

North Carolina berries begin ripening this month and continue through July, so round up a big pail, pack up the kids and make some memories of your own.

Sidebar: So, you want to go blackberry picking...

The following list includes a few of the farms throughout our state that offer pick-your own services. Call ahead to check availability. (Additional locations may be found on the N.C.Agriculture Department’s Web site at www.agr.state.nc.us/markets/commodit/horticul/strawber/pyo.htm. Pre-picked fruits are also offered at these sites, as well as at farmer’s markets and in supermarkets.)

Western North Carolina

Dogwood Hills Farm

367 Ox Creek Road

Weaverville, N.C. 28787

(828) 658-1800

Killdeer Farm

300 Goforth Road

Kings Mountain, N.C. 28086

(704) 739-6602

Maple Springs Farm

906 Stanley Road

Dallas, N.C. 28034