630876 Tue Jun 23 20:50:40 -0700 2009 16 2 Los Angeles Area 0 4800364 Where can I load up on great blackberries for not too much $$? I'm getting a hankering to make duck with blackberry sauce, and this time I want to simmer down some extra. Tue Jun 23 20:50:40 -0700 2009 40486 Cinnamon 1 4800540 Gorgeous and delicious fresh blackberries at the Pico-Cloverfield Santa Monica Farmers Market on Saturday mornings.. Buy them from the guy who sells only blue,raz and blackberries. Tue Jun 23 22:04:31 -0700 2009 4800364 67720 maudies5 1 4802092 OK, here's what you do. Go to the Barrington Recreation Center, which is on S. Barrington Ave. a few blocks south of Sunset. Park at the south end of the lot on Barrington, near the tennis courts. Walk west along the south boundary of the Recreation Center (so the tennis courts will be on your right and the building at 401 S. Barrington is to your left). Keep going west at the end of the tennis courts, and you will come to the edge of a small wild ravine, perhaps 15 - 20 feet deep. Scramble down the side of the ravine -- plenty of people have done this before, so there are trails; it's easy. At the bottom of the ravine go either to the left (south) or the right (north). There are wild blackberry vines down there, and in season you can pick as many great blackberries as you want. I would characterize this as "not too much $$," since it's free. Plus you will get to see a wild part of urban west Los Angeles that you had no idea was there -- it's a pretty amazing spot, and not just because of the blackberries. Wed Jun 24 10:24:14 -0700 2009 4800364 76480 ozhead 2 4803570 No. At least, not officially. But good to know, good to know. Wed Jun 24 18:20:20 -0700 2009 4802092 40486 Cinnamon 2 4803921 I don't want to be an alarmist but I think that general area was found to have some serious superfund-type of issues - some kind of toxins/pollutants in the soil. I could swear that UCLA or some other org did some dumping of some sort of waste over there. You may want to do a search online to see what you can find before venturing back over there for edibles. Wed Jun 24 20:38:54 -0700 2009 4802092 64003 bulavinaka 2 4804028 I yahooed "veterans administration West Los Angeles UCLA medical waste" and came up with quite a few hits. Here's one of the first: http://www.enviroreporter.com/nukedumpall.html I don't know how much of the area is affected but... Wed Jun 24 21:35:31 -0700 2009 4802092 64003 bulavinaka 3 4804065 LOL... OK, now I have an excuse. I'll leave dreams of wild berry picking for someplace a little more pristine than L.A. Wed Jun 24 21:57:42 -0700 2009 4804028 40486 Cinnamon 3 4805363 I read the article at the link, and it is clear that the "nuclear dump" (or whatever it is) is quite a long distance from the place I was talking about above. The "nuclear dump" is on the edge of the VA's property, on the INLAND (east ) side of Barrington, and closer to Sunset Blvd.; the ravine with the blackberries is on the OCEAN (west ) side of Barrington. Without looking at a map, my guess is that the two areas are at least a quarter-mile apart from each other, and probably more. And anyway, it takes a REAL MAN to eat an irradiated blackberry! Thu Jun 25 09:57:36 -0700 2009 4804028 76480 ozhead 4 4805537 Thanks for the info, I had no idea blackberries grew wild out here! I'll have to check it out. Thu Jun 25 10:41:16 -0700 2009 4805363 110510 AAQjr 5 4807055 Blackberries are the vermin of the flora world. Once they set root, they're pretty hard to get rid of. Thu Jun 25 18:53:56 -0700 2009 4805537 64003 bulavinaka 4 4807062 That's your call... Thu Jun 25 18:55:28 -0700 2009 4805363 64003 bulavinaka 1 4803379 I made that exact recipe this weekend with blackberries from Trader Joe's -- they're not the best from eating straight, but the sauce has so much sweetness from other sources (OJ, maple syrup) it didn't matter -- what mattered was the tart berry flavor. That said, I got AMAZING blackberries a couple weeks ago from Burkhart's Organics at the Hwood Farmer's Market -- $4 for a container and worth every penny. _____________________ http://www.savour-fare.com Wed Jun 24 16:45:54 -0700 2009 4800364 10669 Amuse Bouches 2 4803575 Thanks, will try to remember this name and will hit some farmer's markets this side of town. Wed Jun 24 18:21:25 -0700 2009 4803379 40486 Cinnamon 1 4803636 Surprisingly, Costco has good blackberries and reasonably priced Wed Jun 24 18:45:55 -0700 2009 4800364 62097 paprkutr 2 4805342 yep, i concur. Thu Jun 25 09:50:24 -0700 2009 4803636 10704 wilafur 2 4805380 I had forgotten about the blackberries at Costco. Yes, they are very good, and very inexpensive. Plus you find them in the refrigerated produce room (at least you do at the Costco on Roscoe), which is a cool haven on a warm day. Thu Jun 25 10:00:45 -0700 2009 4803636 76480 ozhead 1 4806108 Check Albertson's- they had all types of berries last week for $1.49/half pint. And they were GOOD. As good as the ones I had bought the day before from the Farmer's Market. Thu Jun 25 13:14:04 -0700 2009 4800364 19917 Rizza