Wild Berries Arrive First

It seems like it's forever from when you first see flowers on your vines and trees until there is ripe fruit. This year it seems like it's taking even longer with a wet spring. Luckily, I got an early taste from the wild plants in the yard.
We usually try to keep the wild blackberries and salmonberries trimmed back because they grow exactly where you don't want them. But we were slow to trim this year, and they showed off small ripe fruit while the cultivated blackberries were still flowering. Even though they are small, they are sweeter and have more flavor than the giant cultivated ones.

After a good afternoon hunting, I scored a pint of wild blackberries and a handful of juicy salmonberries. It was just enough to get in some practice canning preserves.