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It's my very favorite time of year. Every day, as I'm headed out to feed the equines, I pick dewberries from along the fence lines. They are free tasty and full of good memories. Back when I was a kid in Austin we neighborhood kids walked to the railroad track (the one that's now in the middle of MoPac) and picked and ate dewberries to our heart's content. Every berry I eat reminds me of the good ol' days. Well, except for the fact that we had no air conditioning in those days.

Speaking of which - our 4 year old a/c has been dead since Saturday. The fan (fan for the inside part of the a/c) is on order. First fan came in Tuesday. Naturally it was the wrong fan. Thank goodness we've had unseasonably cool weather but it's been really humid. Today it's 83 and pretty danged uncomfortable in the house even with fans blowing. Tomorrow is supposed to be warmer. Oh how I hope the part comes in tomorrow. If it doesn't we'll go the weekend with no a/c. I may have to go to Lowes and buy one of those free standing units. It certainly won't keep the house as cool as central but must be better than nothing.

God bless air conditioning!!!! Wish we had it.

I keep a couple of window unit A/Cs handy for emergencies.

They go on close out in August/September, and are worth their wait in gold

Red Oak wrote:I keep a couple of window unit A/Cs handy for emergencies.

They go on close out in August/September, and are worth their wait in gold

My brother (lives in Houston and has experienced power outages as well as a/c deaths) has a window unit that he says he affectionately calls "Insurance".
I'm thinking we need a little Insurance of our own but I may not be able to wait till the fall.

Ah Dewberries! I spent days picking dewberries, gallons of dewberries. I was addicted to picking dewberries. I took them to the elderly neighbors, froze them, made pies, pancakes, etc. Stepped on a cottonmouth down by the creek, was so thankful when I pulled my hand out from a dewberry bush is was just a wasp that stung me. The strange thing is that I never ate one when I was picking.

ann jusko wrote:Ah Dewberries! I spent days picking dewberries, gallons of dewberries. I was addicted to picking dewberries. I took them to the elderly neighbors, froze them, made pies, pancakes, etc. Stepped on a cottonmouth down by the creek, was so thankful when I pulled my hand out from a dewberry bush is was just a wasp that stung me. The strange thing is that I never ate one when I was picking.

Yep, good memories.

I don't know what a dewberry is

millergrovesue wrote:

ann jusko wrote:Ah Dewberries! I spent days picking dewberries, gallons of dewberries. I was addicted to picking dewberries. I took them to the elderly neighbors, froze them, made pies, pancakes, etc. Stepped on a cottonmouth down by the creek, was so thankful when I pulled my hand out from a dewberry bush is was just a wasp that stung me. The strange thing is that I never ate one when I was picking.

Yep, good memories.

I miss picking them down near Corsicana with my grandmother and Aunt. They would just grow wild down there. Are they already ripe? It seems like the dewberry picking time was usually during the hot summer.

And we have an extra window unit in our living room too to take the pressure off our aging central a/c unit.

I thought it seemed like summer too but clearly it wasn't. I imagine in Austin they have already gone by.

We ran the compressor with a big box fan blowing into the main air intake last evening. We only ran it for about 2 hours. It made the house tolerable and our great windows and insulation kept it pretty comfortable all night. We're hoping the fan will come in on this morning's delivery.

millergrovesue wrote:I thought it seemed like summer too but clearly it wasn't. I imagine in Austin they have already gone by.

We ran the compressor with a big box fan blowing into the main air intake last evening. We only ran it for about 2 hours. It made the house tolerable and our great windows and insulation kept it pretty comfortable all night. We're hoping the fan will come in on this morning's delivery.

You really haven't even been in your house that long Sue. I can't believe you are already having to deal with this.

When I lived in upstate NY, (Rome) there were Blueberries, blackberries and other berries almost everywhere along the wooded areas! Ate them all summer long!
Nothing better than berries off the vine!

Dewberries have not started to ripen up here. There are a lot of them.

huckleberries , raspberries , blackberries here in the PNW . Huckleberries are the same as blueberries in my opinion . Blueberries , raspberries , black berries in the U.P. !! I used to tie up my track liner at The Blueberry after a day of lining RR track . Lots of blueberries in my part of the U.P. .

crocmommy wrote:You really haven't even been in your house that long Sue. I can't believe you are already having to deal with this.

4 1/2 years. It should be covered under the warranty but I've just figured out the installing company was crooked so am not confidant in any warranty work they would be doing. And I don't want those crooks to get another dime from us. So, I'm willing to pay someone else to do work that should be under warranty.

Yes, berries right off the vine are so very much better! The only blueberries I like are the ones right off the bush that aren't quite ripe. I've done the pick it yourself blackberries a few times but got so danged many fire ant bites that it lost its charm. Apparently fire ants love fresh blackberries.

When we lived in Illinois there were pick it yourself strawberry farms. Oh my goodness, how yummy those were.

Where do you live Kiamichi?

ralph wrote:huckleberries , raspberries , blackberries here in the PNW . Huckleberries are the same as blueberries in my opinion . Blueberries , raspberries , black berries in the U.P. !! I used to tie up my track liner at The Blueberry after a day of lining RR track . Lots of blueberries in my part of the U.P. .

I've never seen huckleberries that I know of. Dewberries are small wild blackberries, Ralph. They are a little tarter than the big blackberries.
Sounds like berry heaven up there!

a little info Sue , to me both huckleberry and blueberries are the same thing , both taste good in pies or blueberriy fritters !! --- dewberries , never heard of them till this thread !! --- http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hucklebe ... rries.html ---

ralph wrote:a little info Sue , to me both huckleberry and blueberries are the same thing , both taste good in pies or blueberriy fritters !! --- dewberries , never heard of them till this thread !! --- http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hucklebe ... rries.html ---

"Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia."

Ah ha, same family but different genera. Clears up a lot for me. I always thought huckleberries looked more like raspberries so I learned something. They look like blueberries because they are so closely related. Thanks for the info, Ralph.

huckleberry pie or blueberry pie , all the same to me !! Best in those little hand held pies , pastries shaped kinda like a triangle Sue . Next best is blueberry fritters imo !!

millergrovesue wrote:

ralph wrote:a little info Sue , to me both huckleberry and blueberries are the same thing , both taste good in pies or blueberriy fritters !! --- dewberries , never heard of them till this thread !! --- http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hucklebe ... rries.html ---

"Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia."

Ah ha, same family but different genera. Clears up a lot for me. I always thought huckleberries looked more like raspberries so I learned something. They look like blueberries because they are so closely related. Thanks for the info, Ralph.

Where I grew up in the South and where I live now in the hills of southeast Oklahoma (more southern than not) people called huckleberries either "spring huckleberries" or "fall huckleberries". The latter are really blueberries. The main difference, other than when they ripen, is that blueberries have numerous very small seeds whereas huckleberries have a definite number, eight I believe, that are much larger, and huckleberries are quite dry and not really good for much of anything.

Dewberries are a type of blackberry that runs along the ground rather than having an upright stalk or cane like blackberries. Most people prefer dewberries for being juicier and sweeter.

Apparently, Kiamichi, you live in an area with acidic soil. Neat.

Love fried pies!!! But, as we have discussed before, not with that nasty glaze all over them. My favorite used to be lemon.