Beloveds,
I love foraging food!
I've been picking blackberries most days in my new home. Sprawling bushes with jagged leaves and thorns line parking lots, forest trails, and road sides.
It turns out blackberries are not for everyone. While I'm excited by their bounty, the trails, parking lots, and roadsides are not flooded with persons donning gloves and blue jeans while filling up their buckets for jams and pies and other delights.
But that's okay, the blackberries have many gifts for me. I've been gathering them and putting them in my morning oatmeal and then at varying times in my passionfruit sorbet, my vanilla yogurt, or the dish of ice cream.
As I lean forward, getting my daily haul, I realize the blackberries and their bush homes have things to teach me.
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Here are some blackberry lessons:
Like roses, beautiful things often have thorns to protect themselves. Your cuts, scratches, and scars are part of the experience. Thorns are reminders to move with care and tread lightly.
You can't see all the fruit from just one angle. Take your time and try different perspectives.
Picking the ripe fruit from today helps the plant focus on those yet to be ripe. Or said another way - letting go of what was lets you focus on the next thing. Or said differently if you don't share your bounty, you get weighed down.
The bush lets you know when the berry is ready to come off; it should not require much effort or pressure. A gentle touch suffices. Too much pressure and you'll squash the goodness, staining your hands.
What comes so expensive boxed in a store can often be abundantly found for free in nature.
Growth is ongoing. You can't rush things. Trying a little each day and then trying again tomorrow will bear fruit.
Exposure to the sun helps things grow (works on humans too!)
Like manna, we get what we need for the day, even though our culture tells us to overwork, to hoard for the decades, and retire early. If all the berries were ripe at the time, they wouldn't be able to be eaten and would spoil and the bush would be overburdened from the mass of the fruit and the energy output. Output and rest need to be alternating.
Thing grow in the darkness of night, not just the day..
Nature wants to flourish without or without human assistance.
---
When I mention my blackberry excitement to people, it's been a lukewarm welcome.
"I didn't think they were ready yet."
"I don't like blackberries."
"Too seedy."
I'm surprised because it's been such a joy for me. But I'm reminded:
Not everyone sees the gift of everything. And similarly, you won't see the gift of everything. That's okay, don't let others stifle your joy and don't rain on other's parades.
I wonder, "don't people like blackberries?" Of course they do, just not those specific people. Why else would they be so very pricey and coveted in the produce section of grocery and specialty stores and at farmer's markets?
We are coming to the end of July. I sense it is the final days of this harvest and not much will remain when I return from NYC after a long weekend. I'll try to freeze as many as I can to savor and relish the bounty as long as I can until next year. There again is yet another lesson:
Goodness is fleeting; do what you can to savor the delight with a open heart while it lasts!
I am so grateful for blackberries! Although they are not my favorite fruit to eat solo, they rock my work in things like baked goods and frozen treats.
You might be in the company of those not caring for blackberries, but I assure you they still have much to teach you.
May you always see the blessing.
-esb
Questions for Contemplation:
What's your relationship to blackberries?
What is a food you would delight to find a bountiful stash in nature?
Why do you think plants and people have thorns?
What can you learn from the fruit you ate today?
P.S. - Thanks for being here. I’d love to hear how you’re doing!
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