#dewberries

They should be ripe in 2-3 weeks.

Dewberry season is finally here!

  If you go not know what dewberries are, they are a variant of blackberries. Where I live, we have Southern Dewberries. The plants grow like a vine. The vines are dark red with green to maroon leaves, and the vines are covered in tiny, prickly thorns. So if you decide to pick some but have pretty sensitive hands, you may want to wear gloves. And maybe some boots with jeans, because the thorns tend to catch your ankles too. They grow in the wild naturally in many different conditions and are considered weeds, and they can be pretty invasive so you may need to go to some pretty overgrown locations to find them. In the middle of spring, they get little white flowers, so look out for those to determine where the plants are growing. Two weeks after those flowers are gone, you will find nearly ripe dewberries in their place. They are edible even when they are red, but they will be pretty sour. Once they are totally black, their flavor will be nice and sweet! So the main difference between dewberries you pick and blackberries you buy at the store is that dewberries have much more flavor, and sometimes they are a little sour. The flavor is actually a bit closer to that of a raspberry, but still sweeter than that. If you have dewberries near where you live, I highly encourage you to pick them! They are very yummy and an excellent addition to a berry smoothie!

  My brother and I used to pick dewberries that grew next to our house. The field had tons of dewberries so we would fill up a cup or two, and then our mom would transform our hard work into delicious dewberry smoothies. Over my years, I pick them every spring. I have even picked them with my friend Emily and made smoothies with her. I told my boyfriend, Martin, about dewberries, and learned he did the exact same thing with his siblings. Smoothies and everything! So we asked our coworkers (he and I work at the same place) if they ever go dewberry picking, and they had no idea what we were talking about! Apparently, not many people know about dewberries, even though they grow all around us.

  So the wait is over, and this spring has brought tons of dewberries. This past week, Martin and I have gone out to pick dewberries around the city. We have a walking trail that goes through my city that has a really nice patch of dewberries. The patch is quite off the trail, and it is pretty difficult to get to, so it is unlikely that anyone else will find the patch. It is our sweet secret. We try to go there every other day so that we do not miss any dewberries. Another place with dewberries is a small field along the road next to Martin’s apartment complex. At first, we only found a few premature dewberries, but after Martin left to run to the bathroom, I found the largest dewberry vine I had ever seen! It had to have had over a hundred ripe dewberries, with more to ripen soon. The cup I was carrying with me was halfway full when I came across it, and it filled that cup up. I made Martin return with another cup because there were so much more dewberries to pick. I will definitely return in a few days, only this time, I will bring insect repellent. My ankles were eaten alive by mosquitos!