Tasty Blackberries

The wild blackberries are starting to ripen. For the past week, we've been enjoying this tasty mid-summer treat. The bush that we have produces a very good crop, but they've yet to make it into the kitchen. Since this is my first blackberry bush, I've learned so far that the berries are at their sweetest when harvested a couple of days after they've turned black. This gives them time to really plump up. I noticed that there are a couple of other young blackberry plants growing along the stone wall. I'm imagining future summers of endless blackberry shortcakes, trifles, sponge cakes, and tarts. Yum.