Blackberries

I'm a huge fan of blackberries. Also, I'm not cross-eyed as it would appear in this picture.

We humans have eaten blackberries for thousands of years, probably thinking they were berries the entire time. We were wrong, so wrong.

Blackberries are not berries at all. As an avocado is a fruit, a blackberry is an aggregate fruit. You see how each one has a droplet? That makes it an aggregate fruit. Just like raspberries.

Blackberries grow all over the place from New Zealand to Chile. They are enjoyed all over the world, from blackberry juice in Ecuador to blackberry crumpets in England. I really don't know if they make blackberry crumpets but it is sure fun to assume they do. We grow them here in the US, of course, and my grandparents used to have them growing on their property in Folsom, Louisiana. My grandparents no longer live on that property, as one has died and the other has moved to Mandeville. The USDA tells you the story of berry processing. So, there's a career for you young whippersnappers.

A superstition about blackberries... In the good ol' UK, they say that you should not eat blackberries after a certain time in September because the devil has claimed them by taking a whiz on them. This superstition may hold some weight because mold may start to grow on blackberries after this time.

September 29th is Poisoned Blackberry Day, probably from the above story. Celebrate with someone you don't really like.

According to health24.com, "Blackberries are a good low fat source of vitamin E and it helps to fight infection. It also contains salcylate, which is thought to lower the chance of heart risk. It also contains vitamin C, phenolic acids and folate."

So, as my chemistry teacher in high school would say, "Vitamin E, children, for Alzheimer's disease!" He believed Vitamine E fought off Alzheimer's disease. I believe "they" haven't quite figured that one out yet.

I checked out Homestead Farm, a farm in Maryland that welcomes visitors and also grows blackberries. They have gathered a whole list of recipes on blackberries. I think I would just fall in love with someone who baked me a blackberry pie. Yummy.

West Virginia has an annual Blackberry Festival and its own Blackberry City. So, if you're bored as July turns into August, head to West Virginia.

Blackberry can also be spelled BlackBerry and it magically becomes a PDA.

These are just a few tidbits about blackberries. You can always do what I did to learn more - type in blackberry into your favorite search engine (ours is Google) and find out whatever you would like to know!

Information from this entry that was not cited was probably from Wikipedia, which of course cites other places. Do NOT consider this to be an academic article of any sorts but rather the excitement of someone who just loves blackberries.