HOw To DEWBERRY SEASON 2017

It was an OK year for our dewberry patches but not as good as prior years have been.  We think it's the lack of the "rainy season" this Spring but really, we can't complain too much because the last couple of years were monsoon rains week after week and NOT MUCH got done on the farm.  This year however, we've gotten quite a few outdoor projects done... 

Dewberry vines
This is an example of how dewberries grow. They are in various stages of ripening all at once so it's a progressive gathering method.  You have to check every few days, or in our case, once a week.  Usually though they are much bigger, these are smaller...

Farm fresh dewberries
Every weekend, we were able to gather one or two of these containers full of berries...


It's just a hunting game, keeping your eye open for the black ones and of course, avoiding the thorns...


Here was one weekend haul, we had a few of these...

Washing dewberries
I would wash them to get any grass or leaves off that we might have missed while gathering (or a stray bug I suppose, ha) and then I put them on paper towels to drain...

Freezing dewberries
Next it's on to a freezer paper lined baking sheet in a single layer and popped into the freezer for an hour or two.  This freezes them individually so they aren't in one frozen clump...


Then I just measure them into two cup amounts for each batch.  Most recipes call for two cups of berries so we try to divide them up that way.  If a few extra over the two cups found their way in, well it's not the end of the world.  I mean, "too many berries" in a cobbler?  Yeah, we didn't think so either...

Frozen packaged dewberries
Lastly we use our vacuum sealer to seal them up in relatively flat(ish) layers (for easier storage in the freezer).  We had these four, plus three more.  So I guess that's about 14 cups total.  We've already used a couple (details coming in a future post).

Dewberries
We try our best to use them sparingly so that we can enjoy a dewberry cobbler in the middle of Winter. 

It will be another year before we see these beauties again...

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