The Blackberry in Appalachia

THE BLA CKBERR Y IN APPALA CHIA by Elmer Gray The area of Appalachia represented by Jackson County, Kentucky, possesses neither the coal resources of the more mountainous region to the east nor the productive soils of the bluegrass region to the west. People inhabiting this interstice within the foothills of the mountains have always known austere economic conditions, especially during the depression years. Many different means were used to obtain money for paying home property taxes and to provide other necessities of family life. During those years of economic hardship, the wild blackberry was a mainstay in the livelihood of families. The blackberry required no investment or expenditure of funds. The berries were free for the picking. The one resource that typically large families possessed was a supply of labor. Children, mothers, and grandparents could pick blackberries while the father continued with whatever gainful employment he could find. Although the spring (mid-May) burst of white blossoms was usually associated with a temporary cold spell, "blackberry winter," the appearance of blackberry flowers signaled the end of winter and rekindled hope that spring was at hand. The developing berry progressed through the green and red colored stages before repening into a deep purple-black color about mid-July. Families with tobacco and other crops to tend pursued farming activities while less fortunate families looked forward with hope and expectation to picking and selling blackberries. During the picking season truckers came through the area twice each week to buy berries for resale to companies that made jams, jellies, and wines. Money received from the sale of blackberries was used primarily for buying clothes and shoes for the new school year which began in late July. Children's shoes were needed to replace those worn out from a previous year and discarded in midspring . How those new shoes would pinch and bind feet that had been bare and free to grow and spread during the summer months! Cotton dresses and shirts and blue denim overalls or trousers were purchased for "school clothes." In the ambient temperatures of the school house the colors of the new clothes would "bleed" on sweaty bodies and would continue to do so until the weather became colder and the clothes had been washed several times. Initially, the children looked forward to picking blackberries and to receiving the benefits; however, they soon grew weary from the heat, the brier pricks, and other discomforts associated with berry picking. Unlike the adults, they found it 21 very difficult to sustain their interest in the economic importance of berry picking! They were also inclined to eat some of the choice berries. The results were purple stains on the mouth and fewer berries in the bucket. When too many berries were eaten, the ultimate reprimand was to be told in the presence of others that "every time your elbow bends your mouth flies open." By the end of the blackberry season and the beginning of school the hands were stained and speckled with briar pricks, unmistakably identifying those children whose families picked blackberries for sale. Some blackberries were used to augment the family's food supply. A cobbler pie made from fresh blackberries was the most savored dessert of all. Generally, families who could afford sugar madejam and jelly, while more impoverished families canned the berries unsweetened—with the hope that sugar or molasses, another home grown product, would be available to sweeten the berries when consumed during the winter. Yes, there was some blackberry wine made locally. Many people outside the blackberry growing area relished products of the berries but did not care to pick them. This reluctance to pick the berries perhaps resulted from the inaccessibility of the blackberry patches, the stain that covered the fingers, the brier pricks, the chiggers that become embedded under the skin, and the danger of being snake bitten. The wild blackberry was indeed a true yokefellow of the poor people who lived in the Appalachian foothills. In fact, its habitat and its struggle for existence made one feel that a kindred relationship existed between the briers and the people. This striking relationship was further recognized by the nickname, "Brier," which was given to people...