Raspberry Picking Time!

I am a berry-picking addict.

Every year about this time, the raspberries that grow at the edge of the woods that line our back yard are ready to be harvested.

About two weeks after that, the blackberries are ready.
And you'll find me out there every morning for the next few weeks picking everything I can find!

Last year I think I picked about 3 gallons of raspberries, and this year the crop looks to be just as good! (It SHOULD be, after all that rain we had!)

When I told my youngest daughter that the raspberries were ready, she rolled her eyes and said "Great. You're going to be obsessed!".

She knows me so well.

One year I picked so many blackberries that I saw them at night when I closed my eyes.
(There are worse things, you know!)

I had scratches all over my arms and legs from the thorns and brambles that grow on the bushes.
(Until I finally had enough sense to wear long pants and long sleeves.)

I risk getting tick bites, mosquito bites, bee stings, a bad case of poison ivy rash, and walnuts being dropped from the trees by angry squirrels.

But I don't care.

And I still have several gallon bags full of them in our freezer.

So, to my daughter's relief, I haven't picked blackberries for two years.

But the raspberries aren't as plentiful, and since they are my husband's favorite, we try to make raspberry ice cream every summer, so pick them I must.

Not to worry, because I LOVE picking berries. As I said, I am an addict.

One year, I came across a garden snake coiled around the biggest, plumpest raspberry I had ever seen. And I wanted it! I actually stood there for a minute or two, trying to figure out a way to get that raspberry!

I may be a berry-head, but I'm not stupid. I let the snake have it.

I just cannot resist these juicy, ripe, plump gems!
(These are Black Raspberries, so I don't pick them when they are red...I wait until they are a nice, deep, royal purple!)

And last week, in anticipation of my berry-picking frenzy, I made myself this berry basket.

Berries and baskets go so well together, don't they?

I guess it's no wonder that I'm such a fanatic for both!