Not much need to prepare the soil, but I would get some pine needles (pine straw) to cover the ground with after planting.

It's great at keeping away weeds and grass encroachment.

Stormchaser said:

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They're all blackberries, just different species.

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Growing up it was always assumed they were the same, but I coulda swore I read a while back that dewberries are more closely related to roses than they are blackberries.

Rufnek said:

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AgEng98 said:

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If my wife ever figures out how to make either, my lazy pancreas will finally surrender.

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Enjoy the all the preserves and homemade bread and tamales your body can handle because once the current generation of homemakers die, there ain't nobody coming up in the ranks behind them. My wife throws in a frozen casserole in the oven that she buys from HEB and then wants to take credit for 'cooking dinner'. I do all the heavy lifting around the kitchen at my house and that's because I thoroughly enjoy it. It is my escape for me from the hours I put in chasing these damn drilling rigs around. We actually have a pretty good arrangement. I cook and she cleans.

Rant over, let's get back to the berry discussion.....

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The will and talent are there, but sadly no teacher. My mama passed before she could really teach her much. Neither my MIL or wife's grandmother are skilled cooks or bakers, so my wife never really had a chance to learn. It's hard to believe that women from Alabama at 66 and almost 91 aren't inherently wonderful cooks, but it's true.

Pookers said:

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Do black/dew berries spread uncontrollably or is what you plant what you get? I'd like to plant a couple bushes of them if they don't take over the whole landscape.

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Yes, they will spread if you don't cut them back. I cut mine back every other year - but, I've got them suspended on some coated metal wire which is attached to some t-posts. I let them grow a bit this year, and the ends ended up in the soil, and ended up rooting. So, I've got 6-8 smaller plants that I need to move. But, yay, new plants for free.

Also, I don't get the "cobbler with vanilla ice cream" thing. Never liked it. Just give me some cobbler. I make a crust that tastes excellent with the cobbler.

Rufnek said:

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AgEng98 said:

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If my wife ever figures out how to make either, my lazy pancreas will finally surrender.

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Enjoy the all the preserves and homemade bread and tamales your body can handle because once the current generation of homemakers die, there ain't nobody coming up in the ranks behind them. My wife throws in a frozen casserole in the oven that she buys from HEB and then wants to take credit for 'cooking dinner'. I do all the heavy lifting around the kitchen at my house and that's because I thoroughly enjoy it. It is my escape for me from the hours I put in chasing these damn drilling rigs around. We actually have a pretty good arrangement. I cook and she cleans.

Rant over, let's get back to the berry discussion.....

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Sounds like Mrs. TC.

I will allow that she does bake and does it well. It's part of her meticulous nature. She's very exact in her measurements. However, when it comes to cooking anything else I handle most of it and try to teach her how I do it. But, it's a struggle because I am and always have been a "this will probably work well together" and cook it. Even pretty complex stuff. We get frustrated with each other because she wants precise instructions and I tell her to just wing it and figure it out.

Na Zdrav 87 said:

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Hot dewberry cobbler and vanilla ice cream!

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TarponChaser said:

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Rufnek said:

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AgEng98 said:

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If my wife ever figures out how to make either, my lazy pancreas will finally surrender.

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Enjoy the all the preserves and homemade bread and tamales your body can handle because once the current generation of homemakers die, there ain't nobody coming up in the ranks behind them. My wife throws in a frozen casserole in the oven that she buys from HEB and then wants to take credit for 'cooking dinner'. I do all the heavy lifting around the kitchen at my house and that's because I thoroughly enjoy it. It is my escape for me from the hours I put in chasing these damn drilling rigs around. We actually have a pretty good arrangement. I cook and she cleans.

Rant over, let's get back to the berry discussion.....

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Sounds like Mrs. TC.

I will allow that she does bake and does it well. It's part of her meticulous nature. She's very exact in her measurements. However, when it comes to cooking anything else I handle most of it and try to teach her how I do it. But, it's a struggle because I am and always have been a "this will probably work well together" and cook it. Even pretty complex stuff. We get frustrated with each other because she wants precise instructions and I tell her to just wing it and figure it out.

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Yeah, same. I do most of the cooking at our house. If my wife does cook, it is usually "country food" (mashed potatoes, green beans, chicken casserole, swiss steak, etc.), which is what her mom cooks/cooked when she was a kid. It's pretty boring to me (bland - no salt or pepper) - example - our BIL made steaks this weekend, and mentioned that it was the best steak he's had (only seasoned with salt and pepper... which is boring to me).

I have a much more varied palate - I cook thai, filipino, indian, etc., and add spices and herbs ... because they of course make food taste better. She now at least likes to eat spicier foods... but doesn't cook them quite yet.

I do the same thing - I know what tastes good together. Of course, I'm always experimenting with different/new spices, foods, etc. But, I've been cooking since I was 6-7 years old (we had to cook dinner at that age), so it comes naturally.

How about some recipes? Blackberry preserves? etc?

Dewberries are wild, smaller, and grow on the vine. Tastes better but not as sweet unless really ripe.

Blackberries are larger and grow on a bush.

Now there might be some sort of wild blackberry more similar to dewberries, but dewberries and blackberries are not close to the same in size/look/flavor.

zooguy96 said:

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How about some recipes? Blackberry preserves? etc?

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Preserve recipes are all over the interwebs. Ball (Ball Mason Jars) has probably the best collection of them.

With dewberries, you'll probably want to experiment with sugar adjustments depending on how sweet you like your jam or preserves. I actually prefer preserves to be less sweet so more of the fruit flavor is evident, so less sugar. Jams and jellies are by definition sweeter and will have more sugar added.

I'm sure posters like trouble can opine on them as well. She's about 187 years old and does crocheting, pie baking and probably has a few gallons of jam and preserves going at any given point in time.

I don't actually can jam or jellies, fyvm.

I do make a killer dewberry pie and cobbler.

I make a blackberry cobbler, and top it with homemade whipped cream that I tell my kids is made from "snake spit." One day they'll appreciate my humor.

trouble said:

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I don't actually can jam or jellies, fyvm.

I do make a killer dewberry pie and cobbler.

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I will be damned....you dont make preserves or jam?

I must say....respect has been lost here. I am aghast at this knowledge.

I don't can them. I currently have some orange jam in the freezer. I don't have the patience for water baths and all that bull*****

fightintxaggie10 said:

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I prefer a good snozzberry myself.

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the snozzberries taste like snozzberries!

damnit, this thread makes my hangry!

Not'n better than Dewberry kolaches from Praseks!

schmellba99 said:

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Dewberry preserves on a fresh out of the oven biscuit with a healthy amount of butter. Few things in life are better.

Except, maybe, homemade dewberry wine when you are 15 years old and your buddy's parents are out of town and you have free reign to get drunk.

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I grew up in West Columbia. The folks would make wine from mustang grapes every so often, but one year they made a "1992 Columbia Dewberry". At least that's what was written on the scotch tape on the bottle.

Tasted like absolute shlt.

Dewberry wine is objectively disgusting... never had a good one. However mustang grape wine is like like alcohol in a grape candy form. I love that stuff.

Yall keep debating, I'll keep picking. Not a bad first pick of the season. Was just going to check how close we are. Still about a week early.


Miss Piggy was interested in picking too, but I convinced her to let me have them.


Saw this little dude on the way home. Picking season is also gator moving season.

Dewberries have been around since the stone age. Once Wilma Flintstone fixed "Yabba-Dabba-Dewberry Pie" for her husband, Fred.

Seriously, my grandmother made the best dewberry cobbler. My mom, a decent cook in her own right, did her best to duplicate it but never could. Makes me wonder what ingredients (lard, etc.) my grandmother used!

Anyone tried planting dewberries or blackberries in a neighborhood (not the country) type backyard setting? Ours is a tiny bit wild and spot I'm thinking of wouldn't be quite full sun so that may be an issue. Not sure.

We are in a neighborhood and I make those pies using the berries I grow in the "wild section" of our yard.

I have always been concerned about the vines taking over. They spread like crazy. Now, I have given a lot of consideration to planting some on public property, or places I can go pick them. Maybe go clear a few spots around a chain link fence and plant a couple starter vines. Haven't done it yet, but might.

chet98 said:

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Anyone tried planting dewberries or blackberries in a neighborhood (not the country) type backyard setting? Ours is a tiny bit wild and spot I'm thinking of wouldn't be quite full sun so that may be an issue. Not sure.

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I planted some vines I dug up that were growing wild in the neighborhood in my backyard. it didn't take very well, but one vine survived the summer. But died off in the winter with snowpocalypse (if it was even alive before then). But I noticed it came back just recently . I'm sure not getting any dewberries this year, but maybe it will now grow.

I'm thinking about doing brazos berries instead. My dad grows those in the backyard.

Berries grow on last years vines.

Quote:

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Dewberry vines can be found overrunning just about any sunny or shady open area. The dewberry plant creeps along the ground as a thorny vine as opposed to blackberries which grow in the form of an upright cane. Dewberries are common along Texas roadsides, fields, abandoned land, and woodland paths. The vines are quite thin, having diameters not much larger than the a pencil lead, but are tough and grow into impassable mats. The sweetest fruits will be found in areas that receive full sun but also plenty of water.

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Source: https://www.foragingtexas.com/2008/08/dewberry.html

Rain we had recently making the dewberries turn around Georgetown...

I prefer dingleberries

Took a picture of dingleberries once...










They were some red berries I found walking around the streets of Dingle, Ireland.