Surprise: We Have Wild Blackberry Bushes!

The other day I was emptying our kitchen compost container

into our outside compost bin,

and noticed some red berries intertwined in the rose bushes.

I took a closer look and noticed the blackberries!

We have a wild blackberry bush in our yard!

I only recognized this because the day before

our neighbors let us eat some of their wild blackberries.

It took some work to cut back the overgrown rose bush

(this ironically happened to be the one plant

I hadn't worked with yet since we moved last July)

The kiddos kept coming over,

asking for more berries to eat. 

We managed to get a bowl full of berries,

even after the kids ate them as I picked.

They're not as sweet as ripe berries in the store,

and they have a bit of tartness to them.

Clearly, they're a hit with our family. 

The next day I decided to make blackberry muffins.

I picked all the ripe blackberries we had,

and then picked some from our neighbors' bushes

with their permission of course. 

I'll post the full recipe at the bottom.

But I first found a recipe that called for sour cream,

which apparently makes the flavor of the blackberry more prominent.

Unfortunately, I did not have sour cream

so I kept scouring for a recipe.

I came across a blackberry apple recipe 

that called for grated apple and thought it sounded delicious.

My oldest had fun with helping mix the ingredients together.

An after shot of chopping/grating the apples

before putting the apple skins in our compost.

The muffins turned out great!

We made a double batch and gave some

to our neighbors who so generously gave

us blackberries to use for the recipe.

Most of the muffins were gone before bedtime.

I managed to save enough for breakfast the next morning,

which everyone was grateful for.

I am in love with our property and the amazing things

I keep discovering as we are coming up on a year here,

and now in our third season.

The recipe I used can be found here for more details,

or you can read it below.

Blackberry Apple Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/2 c. milk (120ml)
1/4c. vegetable oil (60ml)
1 1/2 c. flour (165g)
1/2c. sugar (100g)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup blackberries (fresh or frozen) (100g)
1 grated apple


Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 F (200 c). 
Beat egg, stir in oil and milk.  
Add flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon – stir very gently until just incorporated 
(don’t overmix muffins or they’ll be tough).  
Fold in blackberries and grated apple until evenly distributed.  
Drop by large spoonful into 12 muffin cups.  
Bake 20 minutes until cracked on the top 
(and you can test by inserting a toothpick in the center of a muffin, 
and if it comes out clean, it’s cooked).  
Remove muffins from pan and let cool on cooling rack.

Number of Servings: 12