Wayne Owen was planning a visit to see family in the community but didn’t want to finalize plans until he knew the date of the Blackberry Bakeoff.
The Kingston, Ont., resident wanted to be sure to get in on the low-key family event that has the goal of teaching people about the invasive species while using the delicious berries produced by the plant. He had been to the event pre-COVID.
“About a month and a half ago or two months ago, he said ‘Find out if that blackberry fest is on,” said Shawn Greenberg, his stepdaughter.
So Owen booked his travel so the visit allowed him to get his fill of blackberry dishes.
“You see Ontario doesn’t grow all this,” Owen explained. “You can pretty much grow everything here.”
A blackberry loaf with vanilla icing appealed to his palate, winning his vote.
About 175 people attended the event on Thursday, Aug. 31, at the Langley Demonstration Garden.
While a barbecue perfumed the air, Drew Storey filled it with the sounds of vintage rock and even big band tunes. Kids could get blackberries and other images painted on or do green-inspired crafts. There were draws and contests. Lots of those attending wandered the community garden plots and the demonstration garden.
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The highlight was public sampling of up to five selections from the more than two dozen creations submitted, and voting for their favourite. That honour went to the blackberry bake created by Carole Osborne.
There was a panel of three judges – Township sustainability coordinator Sarah Maleska, LEPS financial officer Lonnie Prouse, and Township Mayor Eric Woodward. They sampled all the submissions before voting for the other categories.
The blackberry basil tartlet by Roxci Beves took first place while Maria Wielenga’s blackberry loaf was second. The blackberry linzer cookies of Stephanie Steves took third prize, and organizers had a children’s prize which went to Isley Hamilton who submitted blackberry dream bars.
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