Summertime…warm days, time at the lake and fresh wild blackberries! These are just a few of my favorite things about the season. I remember as a kid making a complete day of blackberry picking. My mom and her sister would load all of us kids into my aunts old Volvo. My siblings and cousins accounted for 7 additional pairs of picking hands.  The trunk was loaded with empty milk cartons, coffee cans and every piece of Tupperware the sisters owned. Any vessel that could hold blackberries was recruited for the job. We picked until our fingers and lips were purple with berry stains. Once our vessels were full we drove home where the real work began. My mom and her sister made blackberry jam and pies until the early morning hours because, “the best pies and jam come from fresh picked berries.” Waiting even just one night was not an option for these girls.

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