Blackberries

[Wasatch Rebel]

I have several blackberry bushes that are producing a little bit here and there--maybe I get 4-5 berries a day. Not much to work with, but is it possible to freeze the few I get and add to them until I have enough to do something with--besides just picking off and throwing in my mouth?

[signseeker]

You could probably keep freezing them like that. Might as well just eat them, though. Blackberry shortcake and blackberry shakes are AWESOME! :thumbup:

Our raspberries didn't do all that much this year. We had a lot of berries with just 4 or 5 balls on them. I think it got hot too fast. I wish we had blackberries instead. A raspberry is like taking a perfectly good blackberry, licking it, rolling it in the carpet and then eating it. The fuzz always gags me... oop, there's a hair- oh, never mind. :frown2:

[phylm]

Sure you can freeze blackberries--or any berries--to save enough for jam or other use. We had to do that with our strawberries this year, partly because we didn't get large enough daily production, and partly because our garden seemed to produce everything all at once, and we didn't want to take the time for jam at that time. We finally made 24 quarts of jam from the strawberries, plus some frozen for shortcake.

Are your blackberries fairly new plants? It takes some time to get mature production. We are lucky to have a great quantity of wild blackberries here. My husband picked more than a hundred quarts in May and June. Now he's following the instructions we get on the internet to grow our domestic plants. Expect good production from them next spring.

Phylm

[Wasatch Rebel]

Are your blackberries fairly new plants? It takes some time to get mature production. We are lucky to have a great quantity of wild blackberries here. My husband picked more than a hundred quarts in May and June. Now he's following the instructions we get on the internet to grow our domestic plants. Expect good production from them next spring.

Phylm

We've had these about two years now. So do I need to blanch them or anything before freezing them?

[Earthling]

Just rinse them in cold water then drain in a colander and put in freezer bags or containers. Nice & easy! My blackberries are just barely starting to produce - they come on at the end of August. It does take about 3 years to get a good crop and then look out!

[phylm]

I don't even rinse blackberries or raspberries. I do rinse strawberries well in cold water before I trim the hulls, though. You can add a bit of sugar to berries before freezing. It seems to hold the color and flavor.

Phylm