Photo Bob Kronbauer
The annual FREE blackberry harvest is something we've been covering on V.I.A. for nearly a decade. While you could lay down $10 for a small bag of frozen ones you could just as easily spend a little bit of time picking them locally, for free.
There's no limit on the amount you're allowed to forage, and in fact one of the variations found growing in B.C. is an invasive species (the Himalaya Berry, introduced in 1885). However that's no concern of yours. Get out there and forage some of this brilliant resource, guilt free, while they're ripe (THEY ARE RIPE RIGHT NOW).
Below are some of the best places to find blackberries locally, in case you don't have any secret spots of your own yet:
1. East Van alleyways
This is the lowest hanging fruit (er, berry). Go east of Main street and walk the alleyways. Almost every single one of them has blackberries that are ripe for the picking.
2. The Helijet terminal
As you enter the Helijet terminal on Burrard inlet, take a look to the left there. There’s a trove of blackberries waiting for you.
3. The North Shore
You’ll have luck in the industrial area that’s East of the Second Narrows. Also many side streets to the West have productive patches.
4. Olympic Village
While now-highly-developed there are still a number of thickets near the seawall, adjacent the city works lot near the South side of the Cambie bridge.
5. South Delta
The road to Centennial Beach at Boundary Bay, and along the pathway to the dyke are filled in pretty good. Plus the roads adjacent to farms are good spots to berry lurk (just stay off the property).
6. The Fraser Valley
Drive along Highway 1 between Langley and Chilliwack and you’ll find lots of bushes that border farm land. You’ll be able to fill buckets without having to trespass on private property; Himalayas seem to have become the Valley’s official bush.
7. Literally drive anywhere within 2 hours of Vancouver
This might seem like a lazy tip but if you've been on a road trip recently you've probably looked out the window and seen what look like impassible thickets of thorns. Those are blackberry bushes. Stop on the side of the road (make sure it's safe to do so) and pick some.
Photo Jef Choy
A couple of handy tips:
1. Pick above the waist
Regardless of where you may be, someone was likely there before you. Perhaps they were there to leave something (they were there to take a whiz) instead of take berries. Picking above waist level will keep you safe from the most prevalent of blackberry foraging dangers.
2. Get creative for a bigger haul
In 2009 Jef Choy shared some tips with us. One was something he called "Operation Scorched Earth", which is advisable only if you own the property where the blackberry bushes are. He had brought along a ladder to try to reach further, but it turned out to be a bad idea as the surface in berry patches is often not stable. So he "just folded it up and dropped it right in there and stood on it flat", noting that a narrow board would serve the same prupose. "Some of the bushes are so thick you’re pretty much crowd surfing on them. This allows you to pick in areas where no one has gone. The downside is that you crush the bush pretty bad." Again, this is probably not a great idea if you don't own the property the bushes are on, but bringing along a piece of wood to lay down is a pretty shrewd move.
