Frozen BlackberrySummer is here and so are the berries. Plump blackberries andblueberries at the peak of ripeness and bursting with flavor areready for harvest. This Saturday, Petals From the Past in Jemisonwill hold its sixth annual Black and Blue Berry festival, where youcan pick your fill of the luscious fruit. Were going into our ninth year on the planting that we put in andits as large a crop that we have ever seen, said Jason Powell,owner of Petals From the Past. The fields will be closed the week before the festival to ensureplenty of berries on Saturday. Powell also has arranged with twoadjacent farms to have extra blackberries on hand. And just to besure no one leaves disappointed, additional berries have beenpicked, frozen and bagged. We want to make sure that if you cometo this festival, you go home with berries, he said. If your childhood recollections of blackberry picking include thememory of those unholy itch-producing little redbugs best known aschiggers, have no fear. The nasty little critters are not an issuehere because the plants are grown on wire trellises, nicely spaced,and easy to access. Southern Sweets will have tasting stations in the air- conditioned barn where you can satisfy the most voracious sweettooth. For just five dollars you can sample everything she has setup in there, said Powell. Blackberry cobbler is the most requestedbut the fried pies are also popular. Last year she had ablackberry and blueberry buckle that had a creamy consistency andit was very, very good, Powell said. When youve got freshblackberries and blueberries you cannot go wrong. In addition to desserts, Southern Sweets will offer a box lunch andChilton Christian Academy will sell hot dogs and hamburgers toraise funds for their school. Plants will be for sale for those who want to grow berries in theirhome gardens and Arlie Powell, Jason Powells father, will presenttwo free talks on the best ways to care for them. Will Madison said he found the lectures particularly helpful. I learned a lot from the lectures, he said. They have atrellis-type growing system that they use and recommend. And Ipicked up some free pamphlets. Madison purchased two Kiowa blackberry plants at the festival in2006 and has already reaped the tasty rewards. We picked berriesoff them last year, and it looks like there will be even moreberries this year. Madison also enjoyed seeing other crops grown on the farm. Theyhave a fig orchard and I found that interesting. But the figswerent ready at that time. Figs generally ripen later in thesummer and one of the fig trees (Brown Turkey) came from ThomasJeffersons garden at Monticello. We had heard such nice things about their operation and we wantedto see it, said festival attendee Paula Cole. I was veryimpressed by how organized it was. All the staff were veryknowledgeable about the plants. And they had a small gift shop thatwas nice, too. It had gardening implements, books, as well asdecorative items. The festival will include bluegrass and gospel music and a pettingzoo and pony rides for the kids. Powell is especially glad to havechildren come to his farm. We want more people to be exposed to afarm atmosphere, to see where fruits and vegetables are beinggrown, he said. For many of these kids, its their firstexposure. When the Powells began their nursery in 1994, they startedprimarily with antique roses, heirloom shrubs, cottage perennialsand herbs. One of their missions is to educate the public about theolder types of plants. So when people are picking their blackberries and blueberries,they are going to be walking right through gardens that arefeaturing antique roses, Powell said. Some of these varieties aretwo or three hundred years old. What we are finding is that theplants that are surviving droughts like we had last year are theplants that our grandmothers grew. And theyll be here long afterwere gone.
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