Thi

From page 18

mountains, as the second
growth gets more and more
dense, and the empty lots
fewer and fewer, the blackber-
ry picking gets more competi-
uve. People are tight-lipped
about their favourite spots,
evade inquiries, stake out sites
early in the morning before
even the birds can get at
them. (The news editor has
coveted picking spots in
Richmond, but keeps it under
wraps.) The worst offenders,
though, are those who pick
“>the blackberries before they

are ready, just to beat every-

one ‘else’ to it.

~ There's a special place in a

: very prickly hell for them. I

know that blackberries are

not dear to everyone's heart.
“Those who are not lucky

enough to have fond memo-
»_tles of berry-picking expedi-

tions or who have not tasted
_ sa home-baked blackberry pie

* are less than poetic about the
litle juicy berry. True, the
canes are notoriousiy hardy
and unruly. It’s an ornery
-» plant that seems to respond

Spitefully to pruning. (My
collection arches over the
neighbour’s garage, cager to

eS

invade his desert-like, mani-
cured yard.)

Yes, I know, some people
grow thorniess ones in their
suburban backyards, which I
think is cheating. Who wants
a castrated blackberry?
Struggling through prickles

and getting your skin and
clothing snagged and ripped
is part of the process. It
makes the harvest that much
more delicious. It’s a wild
thing.

One thing about the
blackberry: vou have to
acknowledge its sheer hardi-
ness, its insistence Upon itself,
its willingness to colonize the
“undesirable” places, its role

“in preventing soil erosion
(and maybe even break-and-
enters).

To give it its due history,

- rukus discolor, as it is known
in botanical circles, is an
Asian species brought first
from India via England. It
was likely introduced here
with the best of intentions
(like that Scotsman who
planted “a bit of” broons in
his garden in Sooke, B.C.),
and touted as a delectable ©

berry fruit. On the other
hand, it might also have been

a hitchhiker lurking i in a pas-

jake wild things taste sweeter

ture seed mixture brought by
settlers from overseas.
Whatever the scenario, it set
down roots and stayed with a
vengeance.

Some call it a noxious
weed or “invasive.” The more
polite term — “introduced”
— makes it sound as ifir
sailed from the Old World to
Canada in its prickly finery
and had a calling card to
attest to its legitimacy.

Unfortunately, it did have
the same colonizing agenda
as the Europeans who likely
brought it here.

Tts genealogy is as tough
to dig up as its roots. [fit
came from India, how long
has it been around? Can one
really run across it in the
Himalayas? [t doesn’t figure
in biblical borany. Good thing
— can you imagine Adam -
and Eve negotiating the stui?
in the buff? The Greeks knew
abour blackberries and con-
sidered them a remedy for
gout. The addle-brained
Middle-Agers believed that
creeping under a blackberry
bush was a charm against
rheumatism, boils, and black-
heads. However, they
neglected to note that this
activiry could also be a recipe

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for scratches, bruises, and
thorny-heads. Besides, how
the heck do vou creep
“under” a blackberry bush?
According to Mrs.
Grieve's Herbal (a venerable
source of herb wisdom),
ancient herbalists are said to
have used the leaves to “heal
the cies that hang out.”
Hopefully this is a
euphemism for some disease
and not a general disposition.

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One can’t help wondering if
crawling under the blackberry
bush created the eveball-
hanging problem in the first
place.

Those with no nostalgia
for the Himalayan Blackberry
call the plant an “undesirable
invader,” and even wild gar-
den guru Des Kennedy calls
them “murderous thugs.”
They're vicious, aggressive.
and rampant, and yet they

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hold a special place in my
heart. When they drop their
delicate white flower petals in
June T know that in late
August and early September I
can look forward to a taste of
their dark, sweet fruit. Life
without blackberries would
be a very dull affair indeed.

Barbara Black is a Vietoria-
based freelance writer nid for-
ier North Shove resident.

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