The Last of the Berries

Last week we went to get the last of the black raspberries.
Even Grandma came to help!
The berries are so beautiful and so delicious! I think we've managed to collect 10-12 cups over the past few weeks -- maybe enough for a little jam.
It's amazing how the prospect of berries can make me face the HOT sun with apparent ease.
Here's our loot:
And some loot we didn't count on was chigger bites. Yes, between Andrew and myself we came home with nearly 60 bites. Yikes! The bites don't actually appear right away -- the show up 24-48 hours later and they itch like crazy. I was certain we'd been invaded by some nasty spiders and made sure to change sheets, bathe children, etc. But, that didn't help, and it didn't explain why the others were not bitten. After more than a week, our bites are beginning to calm down, and I'm beginning to think "blueberries".

PS: For my foreign friends -- black raspberries are indeed different from blackberries. They are smaller than a red raspberry, but have that characteristic hole when you pull them off the stem. Their little fruits (I think each nodule is a separate fruit) are smaller than a blackberry. Their taste is quite different from a blackberry. Black raspberries are more intense, perfumey in a way. Blackberries are definately bigger in size and have a bit of a different taste and moisture to them (I am using my blackberry experience in Scotland to compare to). Black raspberries are "round" whereas blackberries tend to be "elongated." Boysenberries are a cross between a blackberry, a red raspberry, and one other berry, so they are also different from black raspberries and tend to be pinker in color I believe.