Blackberry Picking at Phillips Farms
/I picked blackberries this morning at Phillips Farms to use in a vegan frozen dessert I'll make on Wednesday. Phillips will be one of my fellow vendors at the Hunterdon Land Trust Farmers' Market, where, barring some unforeseen calamity, I'll be selling my VFDs and dairy ice creams starting this coming Sunday.
I first got to know Phillips at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and at the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, back when I lived in the city. I'd never visited the actual farm until today.
It's in Holland Township, which, if you're a fan of 1980s science fiction romantic adventure comedies—and who isn't?—may be familiar to you as the home of the Banzai Institute. It took a little over a half hour to drive there. And it took no longer than that to pick what I estimate was 6 quarts of berries.
The plants were much taller than I had expected, reaching some 10 feet off the ground. They were thornless and pretty thick with fruit, although, as you can see in the photos, there were still many that had yet to turn to black from red.
I stayed on the shaded side of my row and was done before the weather got ridiculously hot.
In the coming weeks, I'll make a VFD and/or an ice cream using the farm's gooseberries, raspberries, and/or blueberries.