I pick mine for daily breakfast in August. My favorite spot is from the vast blackberry patches that border a big open meadow area in Redmond, where I walk my dog each morning. Other than a few other dog walkers who grab berries as they go by, it's mostly birds who keep us company. Best of all, though, are the two or three patches of black raspberries. They're not quite ripe yet, but when they are. . . yum!

This brings back memories. Every summer my parents would load up all six kids and every pot and pan they owned and head to "Monster Road." I'm not sure if that was really the name of the road or if that's what we named it. It was in Tukwila and was close to a rendering works. In my memory, it was always hot, dusty and smelly. Everyone, from youngest to oldest, picked until every container was filled to the brim. I can still evoke the smell of blackberries roasting in the hot station wagon as we headed home. The anticipation of pies, jellies and jams throughout the winter made it all worth while.

We've gone to Discovery Park in the past, which is (or at least was when I picked there last about 6 years ago) loaded with blackberries, and you can even find some wild ones on the Disocvery Loop (my kids and I found a few on our hike there Tuesday). One, year, my wife and I picked enough to produce roughly a case of blackberry wine, which was a nice treat! We've also used them to make jelly and blackberry liquor (Add about 1-2 lb. of berries with a bottle of brandy and enough sugar to mildly sweeten it, then let mull in a glass jar for a few months -- strain; great with seltzer over ice)

A friend who picks Himalaya blackberries issues a note of caution about picking berries on main roads, as they are the most likely to be sprayed with weed killers. Picking berries in your back yard or in a park should be safe, I would think.
Information from county officials or workers would be appreciated. Do you have general guidelines on which berries you spray?

We used to pick enough blueberries in Oregon that we had sourdough blueberry pancakes every morning for breakfast growing up. These days my dog usually eats the accessible blackberries afore I get to them.

I am so glad you did a piece on the "free food" available here in the Pacific NW. When my husband and I first moved here in 1990, I was amazed at the blackberries. They were everywhere, and there were so many! After four years in Maine, we moved back to the Centralia area, and now I have had a terrific time picking the native blackberries in the woods behind our home. They are so big and flavorful; I have to force myself to stop picking them. Wow, what a great place to live. In Maine, we picked fiddleheads, a local delicacy which grew along moist riverbanks. The folks in the area would allow pickers to come onto their property to harvest the fiddleheads for their own use. We did the same on our property. I grow a garden each year, but I love to harvest the fruits of the local land. Thanks again for the story.

There are some great blackberry patches in Magnolia along the bluff. What a fun activity to do with kids. Especially when you have enough to come home and bake a pie!

Hi,
In the urban-foraging vein: do you have any info about Seattle's fig trees? There are quite a few in my Cap Hill neighborhood, but a scant percent of the fruit seems to ripen to the eating stage--perhaps the species is merely decorative?
The few figs that do mature are fabulous, so I am wondering:
1. is there anything that can be done to encourage more fruit to full ripeness?
2. do you have any suggestions/recipes for the far more numerous non-ripe fruit?
Many thanks!