blackberry worms

[flubba-jubba]

scroll down to wild blackberry pie

http://http://jvj.com/bpudding.html

ive been hoseing/spraying my blackerry fruit, dont know if that helped at all but from now on i will be soaking my blackberries!!

[rana]

If the squeamish knew what was in most of their food they would likely starve. The odd maggot, aphid or bit of bird poo will do you no harm.

[rustylady]

I picked loads of blackberries yesterday, and they've gone into the freezer. Will be used for blackberry and apple jelly. This solves the problem of the maggots and the pips all in one go!

[emilymup]

When I worked for tupperware I was told that if you picked berries and then put them in a bowl with the lid on and put it in the fridge overnight, the bugs would try and wriggle out and stick to the lid!!

Personally, have just made about 20 jars blackberry jam with brambles picked from the lottie, and having checked each one as I picked it I didn't see any maggots/worms. Maybe they are inside, or as someone else said some areas are more affected than others. Sieved my jam anyway, so any evidence has long since gone!!

x

[flubba-jubba]

ive just picked my next lot of blackberrys, they are now in an old plastic chinese takeaway tub full of water....lets see if i have any worms in the morning lol

[WrexTheDragon]

Never seen a worm in a blackberry, despite them being covered with flies.

If there are, they taste OK to me.

[janeyo]

Maybe I am just unlucky.. they wriggle out of the ones I pick all the time! I tend not to tell the people I have made things for out of them

[flubba-jubba]

ive just picked my next lot of blackberrys, they are now in an old plastic chinese takeaway tub full of water....lets see if i have any worms in the morning lol

the answer is ............................nothing!!

[Dottie]

Each morning I just rinse fresh blackberries and put them into the blender, always tasty and never any signs of worms or anything.

Yesterday and today I thought as there are so many on here talking about how there are worms and we just don't see them, I decided to soak them in salt water prior to making my morning smoothie.

No worms or anything else popped out, just lovely fresh blackberries to eat as usual. When picking I only select perfect berries, don't know if that's why. Too much scare mongering regarding nasties in fruit, if it looks good and tastes good, then that's good enough for me.

[Flummery]

I often use blackberries to make jelly - either alone or with apples - as my elderly Ma loves jam but the little seeds get under her dentures and give her a sore mouth. When you strain out the pips you also strain out the worms!

[Sue]

Hi
I keep seeing little tiny tiniest insects waltzing around on my raspberries, can only see them on the yellow raspberries, they don't show up on the red ones... so god knows how many of them I've eaten.

Sue

[Sarah of Colchester]

new link to info on RHS website ref parasites in blackberries.

Raspberry beetle / Royal Horticultural Society
Have soaked my blackberries and lots of worms appearing. Have not used salt yet as surely that will make them taste horrible??!!!
Thanks for info.all

[chris]

Well, I'd rinse them after they've been soaked in the salty water personally..!

[janeyo]

Didn't forage last year and haven't this year as the few I picked all had worms in. They wriggle out up to several hours after picking, so if you've already eaten them off the bush, bleugh...!Must be the area we live in. I always pick the best looking ones too. I did try putting tghem straight in the freezer then picking out the frozen worms the next day as they'd all wriggled out and died but some of them got missed and went mushy in the defrorsting.
Can officially say I am 'off' blackberries.

[Two_Sheds]

The first blackberries do tend to have more maggots in them, with later crops (and autumn rasps) suffering less infestation