As spring begins its transition from winter, our blackberry vines first produce clusters of white blossoms to create the anticipation of berry-picking. Visions of fresh blackberries sprinkled on vanilla ice cream is a yummy thought, so is fresh berry pie, or pancakes topped with berries and whipped cream, but my favorite way to enjoy our blackberries to eat them fresh picked from the vine warmed by the sun.  Plus, they are good for you, so indulging in robbing the vines are a double treat.  Here is a little something I found in Google:

"Blackberries contain a wide array of important nutrients including potassium, magnesium and calcium, as well as vitamins A, C, E and most of our B vitamins. They are also a rich source of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants that give blackberries their deep purple colour."

We inherited our patch of blackberries when we moved into our home, almost 17 years ago.   It was a big, old, run down single level house in need of a transformation.  We didn’t know where to begin!  We found a contractor and made lists.  With the contractor’s guidance, we began a great adventure.  It was November…Thanksgiving weekend when we moved into our fixer upper.

 We had one working bathroom while the other two were being renovated.  We needed to keep warm, so we had two wood burning stoves and a new heating and air system installed to survive.  I was soon lost in paint samples, popcorn ceiling removal and floor samples.

Double pane windows were ordered, and installed, Christmas came and went, and renovations seemed to be all encompassing.  It seemed the more we did, the more that needed to be done.  Today, it is comfortable, but still a work in progress.

When spring came, we discovered a small miracle.  We had blackberries…sweet, plump, delicious blackberries!  It was like a wonderful gift that needed no renovation on our part.  The crop was abundant.  We now moderately care for it.  It has good years and not so good years, and sometimes the birds battle for the bounty, but whatever we get, we remember that first wonderful year of discovery. Sharing it’s abundance with friends and family was an unexpected treat and every spring I’ll always remember that patch of green stuff on the other side of a short rather unattractive block wall down a north facing slope that turned into a beautiful gift after months of plowing through decisions, dust, clutter, and a house full of workers helping us turn an old tired structure into a home, while we developed the surrounding land into a nursery…first, Daylily Hill and now, Waterwise Botanicals Nursery and Gardens. 

After all this time, I noticed the other day that our blackberries are blooming.  It's pouring down rain as I renovate this article written years ago.  As a nation we are battling the Pandemic, Covid 19, and are asked to "shelter" in our homes and wear masks to go out for necessities only.  This makes gardening and looking forward to those Blackberries even more special.  As we look forward to our "Blackberry Season" this year, it is with happy anticipation of sharing them with friends after "distancing" for so long from church, friends, and family and yes, even co-workers.  I personally was put off by all the social media pandemic I watched going on...everyone had their heads glued to their phones and computers.  But, now it has become a blessing in disguise as it keeps us in touch the only way we can be for this nation in seclusion.  It is probably just what we needed...a realization of how nice it is to have contact outside of our phones and texts.  How warm and loving a hug feels, a smile is, a handshake  or shared meal.  Life transitions, history transitions, experiences transition, but the some of the best things will always remain.  So, this year, those Blueberry blossoms are just as special, maybe even more so than that very first year.

This old house has been re-painted since our first renovation and my front flower garden is constantly evolving.  We added a border of Iceberg Roses with a couple of Lavender Dreams to the front of our chain link fence, and we had to practically have the fireplace rebuild after many years of living here with a fire going most of the year, excluding summer.  The house is wonderfully cool in the summertime, which is such a blessing.  This year I'm hoping for an old fashioned front porch screen door to add to our entry...one with wood framing and slats on the bottom half to get even more of that wonderful indoor/outdoor symmetry.

Join me in enjoying and anticipating changes ...like Blackberries on my vine, and roses blooming, and spring flowers and walks on the beach again, planting gardens and sharing the bounty with friends.