Rubus Ursinus: A Guide to the Elusive Pacific Blackberry

Mulch the plants well. Crown rot, a fungus that can kill overmulched fruit trees, is not an issue with brambles, according to Altadena rare-fruit grower and cook Kazi Pitelka. Irrigate generously. Because the leaves can develop moisture-related diseases, Pitelka prefers drip irrigation, which leaves the foliage dry, though she showers her blackberries every so often to rinse away smog and dust. Planting instructions written for rainier climes will specify full sun. Along the relatively foggy coast in Los Angeles, adhere to this. In the hotter areas such as the valleys and foothills, consider the kinds of partially shaded spots that the wild plants themselves select.

At farmers markets, there is no guarantee that what you see will be a Pacific blackberry and not an Eastern interloper, so shop with your nose. Eastern berries lack our native's heady aroma. Two growers questioned for this article said they were using Eastern berries bred in Arkansas, with one adding that the disease resistance of the Eastern fruit made it easier to meet organic growing standards.

PHOTO BY EMILY GREEN

Blackberries and a raspberry, probably doing a mating dance

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• Kazi Pitelka
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UC Riverside pomologist David Karp, who writes a farmers market column for the Los Angeles Times, makes no secret of his favorite vendor, Kincaid Farms in Redlands, whose berries all have Rubus ursinus genetics, flavor, aroma and perishable ways.

When Kincaid boysens and youngberries start arriving in May and June at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, what you do with them will depend on their sweetness. The sweetest should be what Pitelka calls "field canned" — eaten while picking or shopping — while the tarter ones are perfect for jam. According to Pitelka, "The marionberry and loganberries really shine when they're cooked. They have a bright tartness to them that makes the jam more exciting." She also recommends them for quick syrups to top off ice cream, dropping in red wine vinegar for use in summer salads or steeping in vodka for liqueurs. Then there are pies, which during marionberry season in Oregon are served with a white line of powdered sugar on top, says Pitelka, a joke about the former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry, who was caught with cocaine.

If you see blackberries coming to farmers markets now and continuing for a long spring-summer-fall season, chances are good that they are not Rubus ursinus. My sense, after conducting a straw poll among blackberry growers, is that new Eastern hybrids will dominate California stalls in years to come.

And so, here in Los Angeles, the best chance shoppers have of encountering our fragrant, ever-more-rare native blackberry may well lie in wild canyons, or in private gardens where the keenest kitchen gardeners keep them pinned to suburban chain link.

Emily Green, a freelance journalist based in Altadena, has written about food and gardening for the U.K.'s Independent, The New Statesman and the Los Angeles Times. She blogs at chanceofrain.com.