'Tis The Season For Berries

I have been at a truck stop in western Oregon for a few days and wild blackberries are rampant. There are some even overripe on the edge of the truck stop.

If you are in an area where these run wild, opportunity awaits.

I am not sure I would eat anything that grows within easy reach of a truck stop parking lot. Diesel and oil run off with the water and soak into the ground.

Ever wondered why the parking lot smells like pee? Yep some drivers use it as their toilet. So add that into the oil and diesel run off.

I am not sure I would eat anything that grows within easy reach of a truck stop parking lot. Diesel and oil run off with the water and soak into the ground.

Ever wondered why the parking lot smells like pee? Yep some drivers use it as their toilet. So add that into the oil and diesel run off.

Noted. At the same time I can walk a quarter of a mile and avoid those concerns. The berries I was scarfing down I found a short walk away.

I found it worth the effort :)

Just be darn sure you are actually eating black berries. After a Google search I found out there are a number of poisonous berries that look just like black berries in America.

In Western Oregon I'd bet money that they were good old blackberries. They grow rampantly wild out here and grow everywhere. I work in a semi rural area right now in Eugene, OR and on warm breezy nights the air at my site smells like blackberries because there are tons of bushes all nearby. Coos Bay, OR where my family lives does a blackberry festival just because there are so damned many of them.

Watch for worms though. It's not common but sometimes they get inside the berries. The best berries are the ones that fall off with a gentle tug.

I remember going jogging on Oregon one time up this huge hill and there was a giant patch of blueberries! My lucky day!!!

In Montana, watch your back. Bears also like the berries. Almost got one the other night.

I learned the hard way not to pick them up off the ground. They taste like rabbit poo if ya do that!

Aw don't worry bout the worms. They're pretty small, you won't taste em, and they provide a good source of protein with those berries. They grow everywhere here in NC. My mom used to make us pick them in the dead summer heat when I was a kid. Sucked but nothing beats homemade blackberry jelly. Or cobbler. I would advise though, before burying yourself in a patch, put on some bug juice. Them chiggers will eat you alive.

I'll be honest. I went to the blackberry buffet last summer at the Pilot south of Portland. Man, those blackberries were unbelievably delicious. Makes you realize how artificial Dole is.