An annual tradition is to pick wild blackberries. We gather our supplies; gallon ice cream buckets with twine, a glove to hold the prickly vines, wipes for our hands because of the berry juice, and thick soled shoes.  Just a mile or so away is an abandoned parking lot which is overgrown with blackberry bushes.  Parking the truck we make our way to the bushes.  Starting on one side we each stake out our little area to pick. this year Lona has been making smoothies quite a bit and asked to go with us so that she can stock up her smoothie supply.  She makes the most delicious and healthy smoothies and blackberries are a key ingredient in them. We filled three quarters of our gallon buckets in about an hour.  It was enough.  We headed home to pick through the berries, wash them. lay them out on a cookie sheet and freeze them.  After being frozen we placed them into individual quart bags just big enough for pies or a couple of smoothies to hold us over for winter.