Went to an amazing place yesterday called Willamette-Land Farm to pick fresh berries. About 30 minutes from Portland. Never had a real Boysenberry or Marionberry before. What are they you ask? Good question. Basically they are both crosses of our favorite type of berries. A Boysenberry is a cross between the raspberry and blackberry. See the picture below as they get huge in size and the flavor. Sweet like a raspberry with hints of tartness from the blackberry.
A Marionberry is native to Oregon and 90% of all Marionberries come from here. Named after the county (Marion) in which they were first discovered, a Marion is a cross between two types of blackberries. You could get lost in this mine-field of berries but not only did I enjoy picking and eating them but I made my first EVER batch of homemade jam. A lovely Raspberry-Marionberry-Boysenberry mix. Gonna try it and give it out to family and friends today for the first time.
