Raspberries: Blackbird

I love raspberries!

When I was little my family had a raspberry patch in the backyard.  Erik and I loved eating the fresh raspberries right off the bushes!

The best crop we ever had was the year a pair of red-winged blackbirds made their nest in the middle of the raspberry patch.  Red-winged blackbirds are very territorial and protect their hatchlings...and the raspberries from other birds!

We called animal control after the birds actually started attacking us whenever we were in the backyard.  The suggested solution was to beat metal pans with metal spoons while standing on the back porch so that the birds would be momentarily scared away long enough so my dad could run to the raspberry patch and pick as many raspberries as he could before the birds came back.  It was really quite comical!

Fresh raspberries are the best, however, thawed frozen raspberries are also very tasty!  They are a healthy and very easy snack, especially when it is hot outside!

I mean, how easy is it to pull the bag of frozen raspberries out of the freezer, let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes, and then scoop some into a bowl??!!  Maybe half-frozen raspberries are even better than fresh...

The blackbirds in my childhood raspberry patch story reminded me of The Beatles song "Blackbird," so it is today's song!