Madeleine Posted July 19 Posted July 19 I always used to pick them as a kid, we have loads growing wild in country parks as well and along the roadside. Quote
poppy Posted July 20 Posted July 20 On 7/13/2025 at 1:56 PM, muggle not said: Picked some blueberries and blackberries today. This will be the last of the blackberry picking as the season is about over for them. Think I will make another blackberry pie. The blueberry bushes were "loaded". How big are your containers, Muggle? And how long does it take to fill them? Those blackberries look so luscious, I would love a blackberry and apple pie right now! Do you freeze them at all? Quote
muggle not Posted July 21 Author Posted July 21 13 hours ago, poppy said: How big are your containers, Muggle? And how long does it take to fill them? Those blackberries look so luscious, I would love a blackberry and apple pie right now! Do you freeze them at all? The containers hold a gallon, a little more if you "heap" them. If the picking is good it normally takes me approx, 1 hour to fill them, plus or minus. I used to freeze them but stopped as I found that I don't like berries that have been frozen. Now I eat them fresh except for the pies. I think I have picked about 8 gallons of berries (blackberries and blueberries) so far this summer and anticipate one more "picking" before I call it quits for berries this year. In the Spring I also purchased from a strawberry farm about 3 gallon of strawberries. We are now heading into peach season. So far I have bought 1 peck of early peaches from the orchard and this week will buy an additional 1 peck. I may post a photo of the "market" at the orchard where I buy the peaches in Virginia. 1 Quote
poppy Posted July 21 Posted July 21 Wow! Berry/fruit picking is just about a full-time job! You certainly get plenty of vitamin C over summer 😍 Do you just eat the peaches fresh or use them for pies etc as well? Do you get nectarines and apricots? I think they’re my favourites. 9 hours ago, muggle not said: The containers hold a gallon, a little more if you "heap" them. If the picking is good it normally takes me approx, 1 hour to fill them, plus or minus. I used to freeze them but stopped as I found that I don't like berries that have been frozen. Now I eat them fresh except for the pies. I think I have picked about 8 gallons of berries (blackberries and blueberries) so far this summer and anticipate one more "picking" before I call it quits for berries this year. In the Spring I also purchased from a strawberry farm about 3 gallon of strawberries. We are now heading into peach season. So far I have bought 1 peck of early peaches from the orchard and this week will buy an additional 1 peck. I may post a photo of the "market" at the orchard where I buy the peaches in Virginia. Quote
Madeleine Posted July 22 Posted July 22 On 7/19/2025 at 3:17 AM, poppy said: Wild blackberries in the garden are a nuisance here too. Very invasive and difficult to get rid of. But we used to pick them along the side of the road in the country. All sprayed now, so not safe to eat. However, there are thornless varieties available for the home gardener, I've always meant to get some. They are very invasive! Currently battling with my hydrangea,as mentioned before. My other issue is a miniature strawberry plant which has also, over the last few years, started to pop up everywhere,I don't know where it's come from. The strawberries are absolutely tiny so no use, though I suspect they won't be that nice anyway! Quote
poppy Posted July 24 Posted July 24 On 7/22/2025 at 10:07 PM, Madeleine said: They are very invasive! Currently battling with my hydrangea,as mentioned before. My other issue is a miniature strawberry plant which has also, over the last few years, started to pop up everywhere,I don't know where it's come from. The strawberries are absolutely tiny so no use, though I suspect they won't be that nice anyway! I remember finding wild strawberries as a child, tiny like you say and pretty tasteless, but we ate them anyway 😁 It's a wonder we didn't poison ourselves with all the things we tried eating, although we'd been warned about the really obvious ones, deadly nightshade, castor oil seeds etc. I only discovered recently that what I thought was deadly nightshade is actually black nightshade, and the berries are fine to eat. I can also remember my mother saying wild fennel was poisonous and that's quite edible too. One mistake I made though, was picking what I thought were hawthorn berries, I was going to try making hawthorn jelly. I put them in the deep freeze and forgot about them and they must have eventually been thrown away. Years later, I found out they were barberry berries which are very poisonous. 1 Quote
Madeleine Posted July 24 Posted July 24 Our next door neighbour used to have something in her garden which looked like deadly nightshade, though as you say it was probably black nightshade. Hope so anyway! 1 Quote
poppy Posted July 25 Posted July 25 Here's a picture I found comparing the two. They're quite distinct, especially the flowers. It says black nightshade is mildly toxic when green, but fine when ripe. Quote
muggle not Posted July 29 Author Posted July 29 (edited) On 7/21/2025 at 7:42 PM, poppy said: Wow! Berry/fruit picking is just about a full-time job! You certainly get plenty of vitamin C over summer 😍 Do you just eat the peaches fresh or use them for pies etc as well? Do you get nectarines and apricots? I think they’re my favourites. We normally eat hem fresh. No apricots but they do have Nectarines. We bought both Yellow and white peaches this trip. This morning i picked 5 pounds of Blueberries, it may be my last blueberry picking this year. this is a photo of one of their fields where they grow peaches. They grow them on the mountain ridges to avoid spring frost that you get in the lower elevations: Edited July 29 by muggle not 3 Quote
muggle not Posted July 30 Author Posted July 30 (edited) 1 hour ago, poppy said: What beautiful looking peaches! 😍 Do you know the variety? I am not sure what variety is in the photo. They have during the season 14 varieties of yellow peach and 9 varieties of the white peach. The peach variety that we bought was the Loring yellow peach and the White Lady white peach. The Loring is a large peach - about 3 to 31/2 inches in diameter. This is the approx, fruit schedule at the orchard: Seasonal Fruit — Saunders Brothers Farm Market Edited July 30 by muggle not 1 Quote
poppy Posted July 31 Posted July 31 On 7/30/2025 at 12:03 PM, muggle not said: I am not sure what variety is in the photo. They have during the season 14 varieties of yellow peach and 9 varieties of the white peach. The peach variety that we bought was the Loring yellow peach and the White Lady white peach. The Loring is a large peach - about 3 to 31/2 inches in diameter. This is the approx, fruit schedule at the orchard: Seasonal Fruit — Saunders Brothers Farm Market How lovely to have so many fruit varieties handy! I think it's nice just mostly eating seasonal fruit, then it's a real treat when it comes round again. 1 Quote
Madeleine Posted August 1 Posted August 1 I know this is a bit random (and maybe geeky!) but does anyone else have an obsession with stationery? I love this time of year, when the supermarkets are doing "back to school" offers (despite the fact that several schools only finished a week or so ago) and seeing all the stationery ranges, and special offers. I know, I need to get out more! 1 Quote
lunababymoonchild Posted August 1 Posted August 1 Not geeky at all. My very favourite medium of all time is paper and anything at all that consists of paper, I’m interested in. Especially stationery, back to school or otherwise. To the extent that I have been known to examine a paper bag to find out how it was constructed. Maybe it’s me that needs to get out more! I have more paper in the house than they have in stock at Hobbycraft and it doesn’t stop me buying more. I also have far too many - depending on your viewpoint - books on origami and paper crafts in general. I also have, and read, a (paper) book on the history of paper, which I found fascinating. 1 Quote
muggle not Posted September 3 Author Posted September 3 (edited) This is the orchard / Farm market where I go to get my fruit 7 months out of the year. Scroll down to see the 2 little boys. Saunders Brothers Farm Market Edited September 3 by muggle not 1 Quote
poppy Posted September 5 Posted September 5 What a wonderful place! I'm so envious of the fantastic selection! And the two little boys are very cute 🥰 Quote
muggle not Posted September 5 Author Posted September 5 We are driving up to Saunders Brothers Orchard / Farm Market today to get some Victoria Peaches and some Crimson Crisp Apples. 1 Quote
muggle not Posted 1 hour ago Author Posted 1 hour ago Virginia won the American Football game last night. Check out the crazy ending. Quote
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