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It’s a banner fruit year on the farm. The sour cherry is full of small red globes, the black raspberry bushes are bursting with berries and clusters of grapes hang heavy on the arbor.

In the early days of our marriage, before children, pets and homeowner responsibilities, my husband, Brian, and I made many pints of and jam. We gave it to friends and family as Christmas gifts. That process changed after our children were born. Our attention turned to raising them and attending their summer baseball games and to keeping up with the myriad upkeep projects we had going to keep our farmstead.

Ann Bailey / Agweek

Our children are grown, so in theory, we have more time for jam and jelly making. But with both of us working full-time and embarking on some new farmstead projects, for now, just getting the fruit picked is a major win for us.

This month, keeping up with the picking of the bounty of fruit that hangs on the red and black bushes has kept our fingers and thumbs nimble. Sometimes, it also requires digging tiny thorns out of their tips.

Black raspberries, especially, do not give up their fruit easily. It’s not just the thorns that attack, but the bushes also have thorns that are arm-gougers and scratchers. I wear the battle scars of picking for days after my bouts with them.

To compound the challenge, our red and black raspberry bushes are not in neat rows, but in the tree grove that borders our garden. It appears that every seed that birds dropped and old cane that we threw into the trees has rooted.

Ann Bailey / Agweek

The woods are deep in raspberry bushes that are in tangles of brambles that we have to fight our way into and out of to get to the berries. The black raspberry bush canes, which twist and snake around tree branches, are so thick they once claimed one of my shoes when my feet got stuck in the brambles. As I was fighting my way out, my slip-on shoe stayed in place, and I finished berry picking with my weight on the other foot. I balancing my stockinged-foot gingerly on top of the prickly bushes. That was a lesson learned, and I’ve worn tie shoes for picking since.

Sometimes when I’m picking and it’s hot and my fingers and arms are getting beat up by the bushes, I wonder if it’s worth it, and if it would be better to let the birds eat the berries.

But then my competitive spirit kicks in, and I vow that the raspberries won’t win. I keep picking until the bushes are empty of ripe fruit and my containers are full of berries.

The beautiful heaping-full bowls of berries are the reward for persistence. We eat them fresh, make milk shakes and bake with them. They’re delicious in cobblers, muffins and .

Brian Gregoire / Contributed

Here’s one of my favorite recipes, shared with me by my sister, Bonnie. I enjoy the muffins for breakfast or as a snack any time of the day. Fresh or frozen berries can be used. If the berries are frozen, they shouldn’t be thawed before making the recipe.

Bonnie’s Berry Cream Muffins

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add fresh or frozen berries and toss gently. Combine the eggs, sour cream, oil and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for five minutes before removing from pans to a wire rack.

*This recipe makes about 30 muffins when I use my tins. The recipe can easily be halved if you don’t want that many muffins, but because they freeze well, I usually make the full-sized recipe.

Ann Bailey lives on a farmstead near Larimore, N.D., that has been in her family since 1911. You can reach her at 218-779-8093 or abailey@agweek.com.