It’s time to pick blackberries!

The luscious dark berries are in season and I’ve seen plenty of baskets of the reddish purple fruit at local farmer’s markets lately. If you’d rather pack up the kids and find a sunny place to pick them yourself, the Fieldstone Orchard in Overbrook, Kansas charges $2.75 a pound for berries you pick yourself and — for those less-inclined to work that hard — $3.50 a pound for already-picked berries.

Fieldstone Orchard (7049 E. 149th Street, Overbrook, Kansas, 785-665-7643) is a 75-minute drive from midtown Kansas City.

Have a good recipe for a blackberry dessert or a potent cocktail that uses fresh blackberries? Send it to Fat City blogger Jonathan Bender: jonathan.bender@pitch.com.

Fieldstone Orchard picking hours are: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday; the orchard is closed on Mondays.

(Image via Flickr: Langdon*)