SF bay area: Where to pick wild blackberries?

[Cerpin Taxt]

I'm guessing you're referring to the non-native invasive Himalayan/Evergreen blackberries? They're EVERYWHERE around western Washington... literally everywhere.

True wild blackberry bushes are pretty rare though.

I just picked a little over 3 gallons of these yesterday. Made some freezer jam and then froze a bunch of whole berries for later use in a cobbler, pie or scones. I went out along this trail in Issaquah and there were a ton. Might go again next week.

 

[ChaoZ]

There's a bunch at the park near me, but I don't think you should bother cause they're really sour.

 

[Muse]

I just picked a little over 3 gallons of these yesterday. Made some freezer jam and then froze a bunch of whole berries for later use in a cobbler, pie or scones. I went out along this trail in Issaquah and there were a ton. Might go again next week.

OMG! It took me over an hour to pick around a pound yesterday, maybe 3 cups in a picked over area of the Berkeley Hills. I really should find a bonanza area such as you were at yesterday (2 days ago now). Anyway, I'm pretty stocked ATM.

3 gallons! Why don't you can them? I just wash them, cook them up with some sugar and laddle with a large (on both ends) funnel into jars that have been in a pot of boiling water to kill fungus spores. It lasts for years and years. I label the jars with any important details including the date canned. I've yet to have such a jar go bad.

 

[Muse]

There's a bunch at the park near me, but I don't think you should bother cause they're really sour.

If they ripen enough they usually turn pretty sweet. In any case, I always add sugar!

 

[zinfamous]

I beleive he was referring to the Albany bulb. Near Golden Gate Fields. A little piece of land jutting out into the bay. Lots of artwork made from stuff washed up on shore. It's a nice place to walk if you haven't been there before.

right, Albany Bulb. sorry about that.

former industrial waste dump converted to hobo-art and such.

I believe Albany has/had been trying to reclaim it for development purposes but the locals raised a stink about free space or some shit?

cool little beach, nice little walk. (wear closed shoes--lots of glass and rusty metal spikes, lol)

OP--you take Buchanan all the way to the shore, under the 80/580 overpass. the road is behind the Golden Gate fields parking lot. There's a minimal amount of parking, but it's worth a visit.
Pretty good bird watching, too.

Not in the bay area--but we recently found a shit ton of blackberries way up in FOrt Bragg--the shitty "glass beach" tourist hole. but those were horribly sour. Also, that area--Bragg and Mendocino, were having their annual blackberry festival at the time (this was 3 weeks ago). ...so I imagine they have tons of blackberries in the area.

 

[zoiks]

I picked blackberries at a farm in Brentwood. A bit of a drive from SF. Although I don't know of any place that has wild blackberries myself.

 

[randomrogue]

The Sonoma/Napa area has a lot but I don't know where anymore. Either way I used to eat them quite a bit when I would visit. Try checking local forums of some sort.

 

[Malak]

Am I the only one that came into this thread thinking that the OP was looking for a store that was selling / demonstrating a new product from RIM called a Wild Blackberry?

I came in here thinking it can't be that hard to find fruit in the bay.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

OMG! It took me over an hour to pick around a pound yesterday, maybe 3 cups in a picked over area of the Berkeley Hills. I really should find a bonanza area such as you were at yesterday (2 days ago now). Anyway, I'm pretty stocked ATM.

I should amend my statement to say that my mother and I picked about 3 gallons worth -- not me by myself. Regardless there were tons remaining out there and I may go back this weekend for more. It's hard to resist the thought of those tasty buggers just sitting there free for the picking.

3 gallons! Why don't you can them? I just wash them, cook them up with some sugar and laddle with a large (on both ends) funnel into jars that have been in a pot of boiling water to kill fungus spores. It lasts for years and years. I label the jars with any important details including the date canned. I've yet to have such a jar go bad.

I don't have the canning hardware at the moment. My grandmother was put in a home not long ago, and she said I could have all her canning hardware now that she can't use it, but I have to go get it on the other side of the state. Until I can get over there, I don't want to pony up for hardware of my own.

If I do go back out there, and if it's still as bountiful as it was the day before yesterday, I'll take some pics just to gloat about it.

 

[Muse]

I don't have the canning hardware at the moment. My grandmother was put in a home not long ago, and she said I could have all her canning hardware now that she can't use it, but I have to go get it on the other side of the state. Until I can get over there, I don't want to pony up for hardware of my own.

:

IMO you do not need canning hardware to can blackberries. I have a large pressure cooker that can be used for canning certain types of stuff but I've never needed it for blackberries. All I use is a pot big enough for the berries + sugar, another pot or two to steam jars and lids, pinching tongs to grab the bottles and then the tops from the pot where they are steamed/sterilized. I have a heavy rubberish glove (you could use a cloth) for my left hand to hold the hot bottles while I twist on the cap with my right hand, a large wide bottom funnel (picked it up for a buck or two at a hardware store), a ladle (you could use a large spoon) to scoop the glop up and into the funnel, that's really it, nothing special at all.

After I twist on tops I turn jars over for a few minutes to get the top hot to kill any fungus spores, 160 F is said to be sufficient for that. Once opened, I keep jars of blackberry jam in the refrigerator, where they keep pretty well, i.e. for months. My experience is that if you don't scoop some off the top once in a while, you can get a white fungus growing at the top, however, which will not poison you but will impart a disagreeable smell and flavor.

 

[IronWing]

There were some bushes outside of Junction City but they weren't as loaded with berries as the ones at Happy Camp but Junction City is closer to you and the bushes there weren't growing in a thicket with poison oak like the other ones were.

 

[Muse]

There were some bushes outside of Junction City but they weren't as loaded with berries as the ones at Happy Camp but Junction City is closer to you and the bushes there weren't growing in a thicket with poison oak like the other ones were.

I kind of think the bushes I've been picking are mixed with poison oak, but it seems that I'm immune to it. I've been exposed to poison oak a whole lot for years but have never suffered any kind of rash or itching, just lucky. I hear that many people are immune to it.

 

[Muse]

I made some blackberry liqueur with my last ~1 lb collection. I put some 50-50 with vodka in a jar to sit for ~3 months, a recipe given me by an acquaintance a few weeks ago, decided to try it. 80% of it, however, I put in a batch of a more sophisticated recipe I found on the internet, calling for crushed washed blackberries (I used a potato masher), vodka, brandy, sugar, sugar syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and a sitting period after bottling of about 2 weeks. I did taste it and it tastes very strongly and pleasantly of fresh blackberries, no surprise. However, I wasn't happy with the grittiness given by the seeds, so this morning I processed it all in a blender at high speed for a minute and then strained out the seeds, which make a very nice addition to waffles! :awe:

 

[IronWing]

Well crap, if you're going to mix the berries with vodka why don't you just go chug 20/20 while sucking on a starburst? What a waste of blackberries. Vodkaberry berry crunch waffles? WTF are you thinking? Alcohol ruins waffles. You shouldn't drink.

 

[Muse]

Well crap, if you're going to mix the berries with vodka why don't you just go chug 20/20 while sucking on a starburst? What a waste of blackberries. Vodkaberry berry crunch waffles? WTF are you thinking? Alcohol ruins waffles. You shouldn't drink.

What's that? Advice? I ain't no drinker, but this guy I know said I should really try the 50-50 concoction, so I figured I'd try it, WTH. It's supposed to sit 3 months, so I haven't cracked it, but the other stuff kicks motherfucking ass. I've got and tried numerous liqueurs and this stacks up well against them. Alcohol ruins waffles, nuts to that. There's not much alcohol in what I tossed into the waffle I had this morning, not enough to matter. It was seeds screened from the juice, big deal. I could have tossed them, but why? I shouldn't drink, why the fuck not?