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25 June, 2008Blackberry time!
Over the past year and then some, I’ve been making a concentrated effort to make my food choices matter, or like one of my favorite Herbivore shirts says, “Eat like you give a damn.” Part of this is veganism, and part of it is eating locally and seasonally, which go hand in hand.
Eating locally has a few obvious benefits: the dollars stay in your own community, you are supporting small businesses instead of giant corporations, many small local farms use sustainable practices, if you choose to eat animal products often local choices are more cruelty-free than their large conglomerate counterparts. But why eat seasonally?
Eating seasonally goes hand in hand with staying local. Again you’re supporting the local economy. You’re not paying a premium for something that’s traveled a long way. You’re helping the environment by reducing the energy (and emissions) used to grow and transport food. And as hippy-dippy as it might sound, you’re reconnecting with nature’s cycles. Think of a vegetable garden in winter. Now think of one in the heat of July. Very different. Yet most every grocery store you visit has the exact same thing on its’ shelves year round.
Have you ever tasted a supermarket tomato in March? Disgusting wasn’t it? Pink, papery and tasted sort of like deprivation mixed with nothingness. Now, have you tasted an organic heirloom tomato still warm from the sun, fresh out of the garden in July? Man, what a difference. The flavor and the nutrients are far superior. The food is fresher and hasn’t traveled thousands of miles and sat in a crate for weeks before it reaches your table. That can make or break a dish and especially if you’re new to cooking or trying a new food for the first time, it can really make a huge difference.
So thanks to the handy dandy Virginia Produce Availability chart (check with your local Extension Office or google “what’s in season insert state here” to get one for where you live) and the Pick-Your-Own finder, I knew it was berry time in Virginia. Strawberries are pretty much over, but blueberries and blackberries are doing their thing right now. I called a couple farms and most said blueberries would be ready next week, but that blackberries were ready now. So Saturday Mary and I headed out to Henley Farm in Virginia Beach.
The blackberries were huge and they’re so cheap if you pick your own. Here’s 8 pounds of them. I got these as well as a pound of strawberries for 13 bucks. Now I’ve got a freezer full of fruit for making jam or smoothies in the winter when no local fruit is to be had. Love it! Anyone else into the pick-yer-own thing? I think it’s pretty fun plus you get to see the farm, meet the farmers and spend some time outdoors. What else can you ask for?
Comments
Growing up there was a blueberry farm that used some of my grandparents' land for their sign, and thusly, we got pounds and pounds of free pick your own blueberries every summer. I have to say, that not having a freezer full of fresh-picked blueberries year round now feels really weird. I should go picking! Thanks for the inspiration! :)
Amanda and were drooling over your blackberry photos, we all need to carpool over when it is blueberry time.
Couldn't agree with you more on the eating front.
Thanks for reminding me that it's blackberry season; as an Ohioan in the South, I keep forgetting how EARLY berry season is here!
I'd love to hear your jam recipe, I unsuccessfully tried to make strawberry jam 3 times this summer...I'm ready to move on to blackberry jam!
omg, it all looks so good. those berries are perfection.
i really would like to take a daytrip out to michigan to pick berries, i think i'm going to do it soon! you've inspired me!
Yum....I just ate a bunch of the blackberries and strawberries here at work! I think I'm going to just freeze all my blackberries since I can't seem to get my act together on the jam front this week.
how do you freeze your berries? i got the last of the strawberries last week but i've already made 15 jars of strawberry jam.
im very excited about blueberry season next week! i dunno if we have a u-pick blackberry farm around here but i am hoping someone at the farmers market has some.
enjoy your berries!
I have also discovered the joys of eating seasonally & locally. I just returned from the Farmers Market where I bought tons of yummies & have made friends with many of the farmers, so I find myself getting a nice deal. I REALLY want to do U-Pick this year!
Ok, when I first saw this post on my google page, my first thought was "why is she posting about her new phone?" :-)....too much work. I'm happy to see fruit instead.
I'd like to pick my own, but I don't really eat jellies or jam. This fall, however, I am looking forward to apple picking--hopefully I will develop better baking skills!
You caught me Amber. I'm a U-Pick freak (seriously, it's almost scary). Thanks for the reminder about berry season! Bummer that I missed blackberries, but I'm going to start stretching before the blueberries are all gone!
lucky! we don't get blackberries until august. but! that's the beginning of grape season too! such a good time.
wowwww i'm so glad you reminded me that there are places like this in virginia beach. now when i'm home next week i will go here. have you checked out their market at all? we have an AMAZING farmer's market here every tuesday, but i figured i might be able to stock up at this farm! i'm glad i don't have to buy frozen blackberries any more!
Amber,
My wife and I went hiking on the 4th on the Eastern Shore. While we hiked, we ate wild Blackberries as Black Swallowtail butterflies fluttered around. It was Heaven.
Ronn.
