Blackberries are to Southern Oregon as the suffocating kudzu is to America’s South. Introduced as a crop in the late 1800’s, the invasive plant spread out and took over native habitat. Whereas Kudzu doesn’t have much use other than animal feed, blackberries have been part of Oregon’s lucrative fruit production since the late 19th century.
In 1908 the Grants Pass Cannery was paying 4 1/2 cents a pound for wild blackberries, not much considering the berries grew in prickly thickets. Thorns weren’t the only hazard. According to a small article in a 1913 edition of the Rogue River Courier, “While out berry picking, a Mrs. William Harris stepped on an unsuspecting wildcat asleep in its bed. The wildcat and Mrs. Harris left the scene in opposite directions.”
All kinds of methods have been tried to get rid of blackberries. The Oregon State University Extension Service has plowed and mowed them, let goats eat them, and poisoned them. The Pacific Northwest Weed Control Handbook discusses blackberry control.
For those who have given up, blackberry recipes are available online at oregon-berries.com.
Sources: "The Canning Factory Opened Last Friday." Rogue River Courier 24 July 1908 [Grants Pass Oregon] , no. 17 ed.: 1. Web. 21 July 2015; "Wire Briefs." Rogue River Courier 8 Aug. 1913 [Grants Pass Oregon] , vol. xxiv, ed.: 6. Web. 21 July 2015; Bennett, Max. "Managing Himalayan Blackberries in SW Oregon." OSU Extension Service, Southern Oregon Research Center, Central Point Ore. Southern Oregon University. Blackberries in Southern Oregon. Web. 21 July 2015. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/sites/default/files/Note_7.pdf; "Recipe Box." Oregon Raspberries and Blackberries. Oregon Raspberry and Blackberry Commission, Oregon Blackberries. Web. 21 July 2015.
