Briars and brambles

It is that time of year once again, where people in Vernon County are most able to enjoy the bounty our land produces. Sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, new potatoes, peas, and many fruits are ready and available. We are also at the prime time for one of my long time favorites, blackberries.

A few years ago, I wrote a column about the afternoon visits my grandparents used to take to the strip pits south and west of Nevada. I told about the wonderful fishing we enjoyed. I also remembered my grandmother collecting wild greens like polk. While she was doing this, my grandfather took me with him to pick wild blackberries and dew berries.

These are fond memories, but there were always some issues with the berry picking. The first problem was with insects. It was hard to tell which was worse, the mosquitoes or the chiggers. Picking blackberries was sure to produce some of both. More than once my grandmother had to put me in a tub of water mixed with either Clorox bleach or Lysol disinfectant to get rid of the chiggers. Is there a more worthless creature on this planet than a chigger?

Being on those outings was not all bad. The fishing and the feast the next day was always worth the trip. My grandmother could really cook a good fish dinner, but her blackberry cobbler encased in a cobbler crust made with real lard cannot be matched these days. Her cobbler warm and covered with ice cream was a dessert that I have found few to rival, and believe me I have spent a lot of time sampling others.

A few years back I was lucky enough to own some development land that was once part of the old "Convent" that is now Heartland Hospital. Along the back fences were some dense briars and brambles that produced wild blackberries. One of my neighbors, Dick Secrest and I, used to venture forth each year about this time to pick these wonderful treats.

We would wear our long sleeves and overalls to protect ourselves as best we could. Just like in my youth the same things happened. We did get a few small buckets full of berries, but in the process we came out of the patch looking like we had been in a fight with an alley cat and lost. We even used the latest sprays to combat the insects which I think worked just about as well as sugar water.

The berries would again find their way into wonderful cobblers even though they never seemed as tasteful as grandmother's. So we felt justified in the punishment we put our bodies through to obtain our blackberries.

All of this has changed in a wonderful way in the past few years. Shirold Moore is a friend that I have known all my life. Many of you will have known him from his days as a mailman from our local Post Office.

In the last few years right before he retired, we had a conversation about what he was going to do when he finally retired. He laughed and told me he was not going to do anything. After all those years carrying the mail he thought he would enjoy just doing nothing. Those of us who knew him well sort of looked at each other when he told us this tale, and none of us believed him. We were oh so right.

He could no more sit still than a fly could quit flying. Before long he had a big garden going. He and his other old Post Office comrade, Raymond Shumaker also began mowing yards at homes and businesses all over town.

It was Shirold's next experiment that has made my life more enjoyable. About six years ago he put in his now famous "tame blackberry" patch. He was reading about these berries in a magazine one day, and he decided that that would be a great new hobby. So he ordered some "Triple Crown" Indiana seeds and the rest is history.

It took a few years for the berry patch to mature and produce great berries, but they are now in full production. Oh, and did I mention that these tame blackberries are "thornless!"

Shirold has the blackberry vines on a system of raised supports that make the picking really easy. I like that, because the only time I seem to have to bend over is when I drop a berry.

He also has the rows mowed and sprayed so I don't ever seem to be bothered by mosquitoes or chiggers. The term "easy pick ins" is a slang that has come true for me at last.

I had played or should I say butchered the game of golf in a tournament over the weekend. I was really tired and glad the ordeal was over. I had made no plans to pick blackberries, but Shirold told me they were just coming into the full ripe stage. So I decided to go out Monday morning and pick my first mess of the year.

In just about an hour and a half, I was able to pick a five gallon bucket rounded full to the top of some of the largest and juiciest blackberries I have ever seen. I had no insect bites, and more importantly there was not one scar from the briars and brambles in this patch.

If any of you want to enjoy my favorite summer dessert, they are ready and waiting for you. Shirold has his patch open to the public at very reasonable prices. You can find him just about a mile east of the first intersection south of the railroad tracks on South Washington Street.

There are no briars or brambles, but you will have to find your own grandmother's recipe for cobbler. Mine is secret and will remain so. Don't forget the ice cream!