Second picking

Following the minor picking of blackberries noticed at reference 1, we have now had two major pickings and BH has declared the freezer full enough.

For the first, we went to Hook Road Arena.. One large tub and two small tubs to pick into. We filled the large tub in no time at all, just inside the entrance, first one side, then the other.

For the second, we went to the margins of Epsom Common, a place I used to visit when I picked from the bicycle, rather than the car.

Parked more or less where the orange spot is, then worked our way around the  blackberry bushes behind. Feeble start, but we soon found where the real gear was, which seemed to come in two varieties, large and small. The latter were a bit harder to detach from their stalks.

A fine cluster. Some of these big clusters were so heavy that they were creasing the stem off which they were suspended.

A fine spider's nest, complete with built in larder, although the proprietor was not to be seen.

Something less than half of this second picking, freezer ready. Once frozen, they are decanted into small freezer bags for storage.

We have already tried a sample, prepared by BH with the additional of some eating apples. Very good they were too. They would be a bit strong taken neat.

PS: one of the Tesco's offerings, coming in at around £15 a kilo. Which it might take me about an hour to pick from a decent bit of hedge.

I asked Gemini what the '1+' was all about and he explained that it was the number of days before sell-by date I might expect. Short for highly perishable fruit like blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.

He was quite good on all the costs involved in shop blackberries - including plenty of wastage - to the point was that one was impressed that Tesco's could manage to do it for the price they did.

But he got a bit more flaky when it came to talking about picking them in and around Epsom. But his conversation is, no doubt, coming on.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-semi-serious-pick.html.

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