Blackberry Bonanza

It's blackberry time! My arms are scratched and bleeding. The sweat pours down from my brow. Chaff from the weeds sticks to my thorn-ragged, sweaty arms and itches like a thousand paper cuts.

But there's easily a gallon of big, ripe blackberries in the bucket hanging around my neck. And more to come. They're just turning ripe now and will continue to ripen over the next two weeks.

I have a secret place where fallow fields have been burned off to improve wildlife habitat. Blackberries like that kind of periodic burn-off and come in thicker each year. Couple that with the mild and wet early spring and you have the perfect storm for blackberry blooms.

Gosh, wouldn't it be a good idea to make some homemade ice cream to go with that cobbler I'll be baking?