Evergreen Blackberry

Day 22: Mounds of Evergreen Blackberry as tall as single-storey houses are a common sight in the Pacific Northwest, lining urban pathways, filling vacant lots, growing rampant along roadsides, the kudzu of the North but with benefits. The Evergreen Blackberry and its close cousin, the Himalayan Blackberry, provide excellent forage for animals, birds and humans. The fruit is the size of the end of your thumb, seedy and juicy with a zesty flavor which makes delicious jams and jellies, not to mention pies. These berry plants are so numerous that I doubt they could ever be over-harvested, not if every man Jack in the state of Washington gathered up a five-gallon bucketful for personal use. The rich Autumn color shown in this image is the exception, not the rule...a sample of Nature's "Red Year" artistry.