A few evenings ago, Adam and I walked out on the back porch only to be greeted by an eager Rooster that equates the sound of the screen door to food. We noticed as he got closer that his beak was covered in smatterings of dark red. We got worried. What in the world could he have attacked in the back yard? He's always been pretty docile, if not down right lazy. We're used to this sort of thing from the backyard cat and I've accepted that it's her nature, that there's a whole web of life and death in our small urban backyard that I couldn't interfere with. Although I was slightly embarrassed the night we had company for dinner in the backyard and she decided to entertain us by juggling a still squeaking mole (the couple with us had boasted saving several birds from the cat they were looking after while house sitting that summer), I was always glad that she killed the mice outside before the indoor cats killed them inside. But I never thought of the young rooster as a hunter. Adam and I searched the yard for clues, for feathers (they really don't like the robins in the yard) or fur or signs of a struggle. We found nothing. I wandered to the very back of the yard finally and stopped at the blackberries to check on their progress. At the foot of the canes and bird netting was fresh chicken droppings. Mystery solved. We should have known it wouldn't be anything that would put up a fight.
I think the blackberry canes have been the most rewarding fruit we've planted. We may never get more than a few blueberries while we live here and I doubt we'll ever see the apple trees produce but the blackberries have surprised us with how much they have grown in the year since we planted them. And they are
loaded!! This bowl full is just the first picking and there's still tons of berries ripening. We can't wait to see what they do their second year. And while Adam has been complaining about the shoots they are now sending up in the middle of the yard, he has forgot all that with every berry he's stolen out of the bowl. I think I'll pick one more time and leave the rest to the birds in the yard, least of which are the chickens.
Growing up there were blackberries everywhere growing wild and I would always stop by the side of the dirt road, ditch, or edge of the field whenever I passed by. I loved to eat the wild berries and when Justi payed for these kanes I could not believe that she payed money for something that grows wild and free. These berries though are twice as big, juicy, and tastey than any I had before. A million thanks to Justi for giving me these berries.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome honey. I would like to say that if nothing else our blackberries are thornless which made it a breeze when I picked them this morning. And I wanted to remind you of the face you made when I mentioned before how I had my eyes on a couple of wild patches.
ReplyDeleteI, too, love blackberries and would stop wherever I saw them growing wild, to sample them. Yours look very tempting!
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