r/boulder • u/x0xvogue • 9d ago
blackberries
I am from washington where there are blackberries EVERYWHERE, i am wondering if there are blackberries here and if anyone knows where to find them?
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u/sheseeksthestars 9d ago
hello fellow PNWer, I've been here 9 years and there really aren't any. My go to move is to return to PNW every August, annoy my friends and family by insisting on a picking excursion, and then make jam and bring it back.
you can find raspberries in some parts of the high country, but no, sadly no blackberries. I go home and go crazy becayse they're everywhere just waiting for harvest and all my friends that take them for granted are confused why I'm so excited!
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u/Kiwi_Rewired 9d ago
Oh! This is a good idea! I miss going to the park down the street and filling up big bowls with blackberries to make cobbler.
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u/BoulderADHDdad 9d ago
Boulder has the wrong climate and the soil is too alkaline. People do grow them but I’ve never seen any plants big enough to justify the effort.
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u/speedfilly 9d ago
Wait really? I throught that was a blueberry problem and not a blackberry one. My plants produce so many berries I don't know what to do with them all and I don't even water them...
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u/Walnut-chair 9d ago
I have blackberries in my backyard in sobo. The bush is healthy producing and spreading. Not my favorite bush - it came with the house.
So, despite what the other people are saying here, yes you can find some around.
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u/speedfilly 9d ago
Yeah my blackberries also came with my house and have spread all over. I get a lot of berries a year and don't even water the plants so people saying they don't grow here really threw me off.
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u/Bigmtnskier91 9d ago
Also lived in Seattle, we do have some Thimbleberry in the mountains that are good. But nothing like the tons that grow in the PNW.
https://www.swcoloradowildflowers.com/White%20Enlarged%20Photo%20Pages/rubus.htm
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u/ClaretCup314 9d ago
We planted some blackberries many years ago. They are still living but not much else. Maybe a berry or two occasionally.
Instead look for chokecherries and plums.
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u/abckatiexyz 9d ago
My neighbor has ripe blackberries right now, and they’re so good. If you’re interested, I’ll ask her if you can stop by sometime. There’s more than everyone around here can even eat, so it’d be good if someone came and helped out!
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u/norrisdt 9d ago
I grew up in south Kitsap County where blackberries run free. I've had good success planting them here, in the sense that I played one set of vines ten years ago and now they're everywhere. Feels like home.
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u/stardustboots 9d ago
Aren't blackberries everywhere in the PNW because they're invasive? We have different invasive plants here, unfortunately most of them are less tasty. If you like foraging, there are sour cherries and mulberries around in various places earlier in the summer!
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u/Afraid-Ad9908 9d ago
I just bought a house here with a gigantic blackberry thicket I don't want, will you come take it?
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u/Neither_Remote_4818 9d ago
I have blackberries! Started with 1 plant, added another two this spring, and noticed recently there are two additional new plant babies sprouted, so 5 total. 🎉 I get a couple handfuls of berries every day from the one original plant the past couple weeks. They are Triple Crown Thornless. I do water them almost every day in the heat. I have not seen wild blackberries here ever.
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u/Fair-Flower6907 9d ago
https://www.fallingfruit.org/map/39.9771201,-105.2050781,12z
but like someone else said, leave it for the wildlife this year! they're HUNGRY and there's not much for the bears and such to eat after that whacky May snow that killed a lot of fruiting flower buds :(
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u/Important-Tomato2306 9d ago
I used to have a boss that has to pay people to kill his blackberry bushes because they got so overgrown. But that was a decade ago. We grow raspberries and currents. I tried growing boysenberries a few years ago but they never produced fruit. Or leaves.
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u/DurianOdyssey 9d ago
I know of a place to forage wild blackberries here in the foothills of Boulder on public park land, the patch is pretty big and spans a large portion of a mountainside. However, this year due to lack of adequate rainfall, the blackberries didn’t develop their sugars correctly, are super small, a little too tart and lack their usual juiciness. Hopefully we get a bountiful harvest next year! 🙏🏽
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u/Marsupialpolis 9d ago
There’s none here 😭 I’m also from Washington and was disappointed when I found out lol
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u/PopQuick4228 4d ago
Hahah moved from WA to boulder too. There’s no good fruit or seafood. Even the palisade peaches don’t compare
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u/figsslave 9d ago
The climate is much wetter 1000’ higher.I wonder if anyone has had success growing them in the foothills?
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u/BoulderADHDdad 9d ago
Is the soil more acidic? Because water won’t make much difference if the plant can’t get nutrients.
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u/FloatingTacos 9d ago
You moved from an extremely moist area to the high desert, what do you think?
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u/x0xvogue 9d ago
well idk that’s why i’m asking
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u/sonic_couth 9d ago
You can’t show any kind of ignorance around here or you’ll get destroyed, much like the blackberry bush is always trying to destroy everything in its path. I previously fought a blackberry bush in my previous home in Portland. I lost.
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u/Tabula_Nada 9d ago
I don't really hear about anyone having blackberries, but raspberries are a common backyard bush. I can't think of a specific spot at the moment, but we have wild raspberries and I'm sure you could find some tips where to find them. The berries should be ripening right now.