Everything you need to know about... blackberries - Fun Kids

Hi there, and welcome to another tasty episode of… the Morrisons Fruit & Root Crew, where we’re on a mission to uncover some of the stories behind the hero seasonal food we eat – from juicy fruits to veggies with va va voom.

It’s September – the hedgerows are bursting, the jam jars are waiting. Our hero of the month is juicy, purple and pie-perfect.

Now, what do you think it is – fruit or veg? Only one way to find out!

Let’s Spin the Peel of Fortune!

This month’s hero is a fruit – the one and only… Blackberry!

Sweet or sharp, wild or shop-bought, blackberries are a brambly British classic! Did you know that British shoppers buy more than 2,500 tonnes of blackberries each year… that’s equivalent to 208 double decker buses!

FRUITY FACTS!

Let’s get some blackberry brilliance!

They grow on prickly bushes called brambles, which are part of the rose family.
They’re not really true berries – they’re called aggregate fruits, made up of little juicy bits called drupelets.
They’re a brilliant source of vitamins and antioxidants that help keep our bodies healthy.
People have been picking blackberries since the Neolithic period, that’s thousands of years ago!
Today’s shop-bought blackberries are often twice as big as wild ones and grown to be extra sweet.

Did you know blackberries once stopped a war? Yup! In the American Civil War, soldiers on both sides paused fighting to pick blackberries from the same bush. Respect the berry!

There’s an old saying that “blackberries are red when they’re green.” Confusing? It just means even when they’re red they’re still not ripe – you have to wait for that deep purple colour to develop before popping one in your mouth. And in folklore, you must never pick blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day, that’s early October. People believed the Devil spits on them after that date.

One last fact, blackberries and raspberries are cousins! But with one significant difference – when you pick a blackberry, the stalk stays with the fruit. With raspberries, it stays on the bush.

Let’s find out more about the blackberry and how they’re grow…

MEET THE FARMER… DOWN ON THE FARM!

While wild blackberries grow in hedgerows, our commercial blackberries are specially grown to be larger, sweeter and easier to pick. Some varieties even have no thorns. We start by choosing the right site – blackberries love sunny spots with moisture, retaining soil. The canes are spaced out in rows and supported with trellises or posts to help them grow tall and healthy.

We grow primocane varieties, which means they fruit on first-year growth, giving us a longer harvest season. We prune the plants regularly to remove older canes and help the new ones thrive. And we carefully irrigate, especially in dry weather, to keep the berries juicy.

To stretch the season, we sometimes chill the plants in cold stores, then plant them later, which delays when they fruit. That’s how we get blackberries on shelves from spring through to November. Once picked, we chill and pack them fast, because blackberries are delicate and can spoil quickly. The berry industry’s booming, and we’re proud to grow tasty British fruit that’s good for you and grown with care.

GET IN MA BELLY!

Whether you pick or buy them, there’s loads you can do with these purple beauties.

There’s the classic Blackberry crumble – a warm, gooey hug in a bowl.
And who doesn’t love Blackberry jam – perfect for toast, pancakes or as a sandwich filling.
Blackberries go really well with apples in pies and tarts – sweet and delicious.
And what about a Blackberry Bakewell Cake?
Don’t forget about Muffins! Great for lunchboxes or as an after school treats!
You can also just keep it simple and freeze them, and then throw them into smoothies. Why not invent your own fruity mix?

Blackberries… from folklore to fruit bowls, they’re certainly berry cool.