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No Time to Wait for Berries
July 2, 2008
No Time to Wait for Berries
Farmers' Markets DENISE MILLER for the Journal
EDITOR'S NOTE: Every other week, Denise Miller of the New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association spotlights local growers and their crops.
When you ask this Mary how her garden grows, rather than with silver bells, she may tell you very thorny, thank you.
That is because Mary Moses has 200 to 300 blackberry bushes growing around her Los Ranchos home and garden.
This is peak season for blackberries, which also means it is peak season for Moses to get scratched and poked and dyed purple, no matter how she covers up.
"I have something called an armadillo, which is like a canvas sleeve that I wear, plus a long-sleeve shirt and gloves with the fingers cut off -- because you have to feel the berries to know if they are ripe -- and I still get all scratched up," Moses said.
Moses, 67, is a former elementary schoolteacher who credits yoga and a fitball class with keeping her limber enough to pick the sweetest, nearly-out-of-reach berries.
"The best blackberries are way underneath, and you really have to bend and stretch to get them," she said.
Moses said her blackberries aren't quite as big as those from Oregon, but they love her sandy soil and taste amazing.
This year, she will sell them for $4 a pint, a bargain for market fresh berries that burst with flavor, flavor, flavor.
Plump is Pleasing
Blackberries must be picked when they are perfectly ripe. (Never buy berries you hope will ripen -- they won't.)
When buying berries, shop with your nose. Always pick the plumpest and most fragrant.
Don't wash or hull berries until you're ready to use them, and refrigerate unwashed berries as soon as possible.
Store them in a colander in the refrigerator. That allows the cold air to circulate around them.
One tip: Try removing berries from your refrigerator one to two hours before serving. Berries are at their fullest flavor at room temperature.
Moses doesn't use pesticides on her berries -- or any of her produce -- and said the only pests she has is an occasional roadrunner.
Blackberries are great no matter how you eat them -- fresh by the handful, on yogurt, in pie or a torte, or made into jam.
Moses' favorite way to eat them is straight from the vine. She also tries to remember to save enough to freeze so she and her husband, Gary, can eat them during the winter.
Berries of all kinds freeze extremely well. To flash freeze, gently wash and place the berries individually on a cookie sheet. As soon as they are frozen, you can put them in a plastic bag and they won't clump.
Moses has been selling at the Los Ranchos Market for about 10 years.
For Love of the Berry
So is this popular berry grower getting rich? "This is a hobby. It brings us joy," she said. "Just ask my accountant, who rolls his eyes whenever I tell him what I make."
Blackberries generally grow well in New Mexico's sandy soil but the prickly harvesting means only dedicated growers have a good supply.
If you have a taste for berries, don't sleep late. Moses' regular customers know this and many weeks she is sold out by 7:30 a.m. The Los Ranchos market opens at 7 a.m.
Moses imagines she'll keep at this labor of love for a while, though she can almost envision a time when she'll have to quit picking 700 pints a season.
At that point, Moses said, she'll just put up a sign on her property welcoming customers to come and get scratched and dyed purple themselves.
Featured Grower: Mary Moses, Moses Garden of Eat'n
Featured crop: Blackberries contain antioxidants called anthocyanins, which give them their dark color. They are also rich in vitamin C that help protect against infections and cancers and are an excellent source of vitamin E, potassium, dietary fiber and more.
Season: Through July (slightly later in some areas)
Where to find her: Los Ranchos Village Market
