BLACKBERRY BONANZA
These iconic, glossy blue-black berries are making a comeback, thanks in part to new cultivars, more targeted agriculture chemicals and people like Sherry Adams.
"I can't wait for berry time every year. I love to get out early in the morning and pick. I don't charge much for my labor because I want people to be able to afford to buy my berries," said Adams, who picks about 25 pints of her thornless, seedless Blue Ridge Blackberries to sell at Tanners Orchard near Speer, Ill.
DEEP IN THE THICKET
Adams said she inherited her vines, which were already growing and producing when she and her husband moved to their rural log home on 4 1/2 acres. She and her neighbor Delores Vaughn started reading, watching videos and attending seminars on blackberries.
"Some people think with blackberries, you just pick them. But blackberries are a lot of work," Adams said. "You fertilize, cane, trim, prune, weed. Only lateral stems produce berries, and after they produce blackberries, they never produce again. So you cut the cane to the ground and the next year new lateral canes produce berries."
Adams typically picks berries from 6:30 to 9 a.m. wearing gloves and often sitting on "Grandma's picking stool," designed and made by her teenage grandson, Jake Adams.
Blackberries like full sun and ample water. Adams uses only natural fertilizer and no chemicals on the berries.
"If you are just eating berries, you want them all ripe and sweet. But for pie, the best flavor is with some not-so-ripe," she said.
BLACKBERRY ROLL
Dough:
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar (divided use)
4 tablespoons shortening
2/3 to 3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
6 cups blackberries
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Powdered sugar, for garnish
Whipped cream, for serving
Yields 6 to 8 servings.
Combine first 3 dry ingredients and 1/3 cup of sugar. Cut in shortening. Add milk and mix well.
Turn dough out on floured board and knead. Roll out to 1/3-inch thickness. Brush with 1/2 the melted butter. Sprinkle with 3 cups berries, 1/3 cup sugar and cinnamon.
Roll up like jelly roll. Pinch ends together. Brush with remaining butter. Place on well-oiled pan with sides. Surround with remaining berries and sugar. Bake at 425 F for 30 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream.
Nutritional analysis per serving: 390 calories, 4.4 g protein, 12.5 g fat (28.7 percent of total calories), 65 g carbohydrate, 6.5 g fiber, 20 mg cholesterol, 371 mg sodium.
BERRY-RHUBARB PIE
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup blackberries
1 cup raspberries
2 cups rhubarb
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 piecrust
1 teaspoon either half-and-half or butter
1 tablespoon sugar
Yields 8 servings.
Mix flour and sugar. Add to fruit. Refrigerate overnight. Just before adding to piecrust, stir in melted butter and lemon juice.
Pour into piecrust. Put on top crust and crimp edges. Brush top with half-and-half or butter. Sprinkle top with sugar. Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes, at 350 F for 40 to 50 minutes.
Nutritional analysis per serving: 279 calories, 1.9 g protein, 9.4 g fat (30.5 percent of total calories), 46.6 g carbohydrate, 2.9 g fiber, 7 mg cholesterol, 64 mg sodium.
BLACKBERRY JAM
8 cups berries, washed and mashed
8 cups sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (3 to 4 tablespoons)
Yields 6 pints.
Place berries in saucepan over medium heat and boil in their own juices for 10 minutes. Add sugar and lemon. Cook rapidly for 30 minutes (skim throughout cooking). Pour into hot jelly glasses.
Note: Strain before adding sugar if you prefer seedless jam.
Nutritional analysis per (2-tablespoon) serving: 148 calories, 0.2 g protein, 0.1 g fat (0.7 percent of total calories), 36.5 g carbohydrate, 1.3 g fiber, no cholesterol, no sodium.
- Sherry Adams.
BLACKBERRY-GREEN APPLE PIE
3 cups blackberries
1 cup thin, peeled green apple slices
2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Pastry for 1-crust pie.
Yields 1 pie, 8 servings.
Pick over and wash berries in cold water. Lift out and drain.
In large bowl, combine berries, apples, tapioca, sugar and cinnamon, mixing well.
Line 9-inch pie pan with pastry. Sprinkle with flour, then pour in fruit mixture. Dot with butter.
Bake in 375 F oven for approximately 40 minutes. Loosely lay foil on top and bake 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices start to bubble up.
Nutritional analysis per serving: 324 calories, 1.5 g protein, 10.7 g fat (29.6 percent of total calories), 55.6 g carbohydrate, 3.6 g fiber, 11 mg cholesterol, 63 mg sodium.
- From Marilyn Tanner, Tanners Orchard in Chillicothe, Ill.
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