I took time to dig up dirt and even amended the soil with fertilizer for a special black raspberry plant I bought at the greenhouse this Spring, and planted thinking I would only get a few berries this year from it.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, there were black raspberry bushes growing all throughout the thicket on the property all along, with way more production on their vines than on mine. Although my berries did seem to be nearly twice the size as these wild ones I am fortunate to be able to pick from around the property.
I have seen these berries in the past before but never thought they were safe to eat, but once I got into growing my own food, I am learning many things. And I noticed how similar these wild plants were to the "domesticated" one that I planted in the dirt and right away it dawned on me that these are certainly edible!
I went right away to picking of course! For weeks to come it appears there will be these black raspberries, in 4 different locations around the property. And then followed by raspberries or blackberries!
Amazing to think how much natural food is produced on our land, and how much of it we simply ignored in the past and essentially wasted to nature... well not anymore!
The darker purpler the more ripe the berry, but I don't mind tasting a little tart in my berries so I pick some that aren't completely purple yet. They were all delicious. I have picked about a pound of berries so far. Perhaps there may be 10x more yet to ripen.
