Blackberry picking weekend picnic, for Shrove Tuesday pancakes

Wild blackberry photo by Cecilia Macaulay

If only my painstakingly cared-for balcony berries were as lush as these irrepressible wild blackberries. My own berries, searching for sun, went trailing over the edge of the balcony where I cannot see them, enjoy them, but most importantly, can't get an idea of how much transpiration is going on, so I let them get woefully thirsty.
Still, now Ive acknowledged my trespasses, they are forgiving me, and putting out green shoots back on the abandoned canes.


According to this ABC interview on Australian Blackberries, this prickly pest plant dominates an area the size of Tasmania, takes $70 million + from our economy, all so I can enjoy a nice blackberry crepe with cream on our Shrove Tuesday. I enjoy imagining an innocent, eccentric Baron Ferdinand von Mueller dancing though the bush, strewing seed, glowing with pride in the imagined gratitude of future generations, who thanks to his effort would have self-growing food in the summer, and never die when they stray off into the bush.

In fact, the Baron was the same extremely capable fellow that established Melbourne's amazing Botanical Gardens, and probably didn't dance much.

Dominic, Katie and Lon picking berries, photo by Cecilia Macaulay

My sister Katie and the gang went up to visit my brother Dominic on the weekend. Pulling out these bushes was one of his jobs, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it, with it looking so pretty and hopeful.

Dom lives in a cubbyhouse behind the pub, at the Whistle stop cafe. He used to just view it while waiting on the platform for the train to take him home from work - that is no longer necessary.
Hey, with all those free blackberries, work is not really necessary either.

So the day before our Lenten fast, 40 days of sackcloth, ashes and repentance, Have a Mardi Gras, or Gross (fat) Tuesday (mardi) gobbling down all the sugar, eggs, butter and rich things we can, while the going is good.

And of course, the blackberries, never forget the blackberries.