Blackberries – Slow Picked, not quick bought!

By Brendan Donnelly: [email protected]

I went ‘brambling’ this morning, scouring the hedgerows of rural Staffordshire for the big black juicy fruits, trying to avoid the stinging nettles and prickles in search of one of my favourite fruits.

My son couldn’t understand

“Why not just go into town and buy some?”

My reply “Our local supermarket doesn’t stock blackberries, and even if they did they wouldn’t taste anywhere near as good as these ones”

“But picking them takes so much time, it’s too SLOW!”

“It’s certainly slower than picking up a punnet of bland Spanish strawberries from the supermarket, but in December when we have guests and your mum bakes a pavlova, then these blackberries will be the perfect topping, and all our guests will remember her fabulous cooking and splendid locally picked bramble pavlova, and leave with happy thoughts and good wishes”.

Yes its SLOW, but its more rewarding for everyone – the brambles are free and abundant this time of year they freeze well and retain their flavour – the guests in December really enjoy their superb taste which makes your mums cooking special, and we all take pride in a job well done, SLOWER but worth it.

Sometimes in life the best results are obtained not by the quickest, simplest, or most convenient solution, but through care and the right solution.