Posted in Nature Knowledge

NATURE KNOWLEDGE: Black Raspberries

July 4th Week Vacation 2011 073These are Black Raspberries. Many people refer to them as “Black Caps”. As you can see in the photo, when the fruit is picked, the white core remains attached to the plant. This is the simplest way to tell them from Blackberries.

Another way to tell the two berries apart ( in my area of upstate New York and western Massachusetts), is according to their time of ripening. Black Raspberries appear in June and Blackberries are in August.

Black Raspberries are a small fruit and grow in sparse numbers per bush while Blackberries can yield gallons of fruit in a similar space.  I’ve found it hard to find significant patches of wild Black Raspberries. They are susceptible to many blights which also plague wild Raspberries. One final note, they are far less painful to harvest than Blackberries, simply because, their thorns are much smaller and their fruit tends to grow outwardly.

A Black Raspberry patch is indeed a great find!

Posted in Sideshows

My Favorite Summer Sound

To be greeted with a sweet song in the morning and the same one at day’s end.

The song of the American Robin. Sweet music at both ends of a summer day.

TRUE STORY: I once had one of those clocks which rang a bird song on each hour. 7:00 am was the American Robin. My work day began at 6:00 am and so I became very accustom to the robins after I was up and running. On my weeks vacation in the forest, I heard their lovely morning serenade only to jump out of a quasi-sleep announcing,”I’m late!”

The hardest part of the summer heat is that my windows are closed and my air-conditioner is the only sound.

I relish those days at camp where the sweetest voices make me smile before I open my eyes to a new day.

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