Picking Black Raspberries at The Bearded Frog and Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream

Adam works with a farmer in the neighboring county named Lee. Adam’s business works with him and his corn and soybean operation.

And, in the last couple years, Lee decided to add another crop to the farm ground: Black Raspberries.

Last year, Lee planted somewhere between 300-400 black raspberry plants in six rows on his family farm. This year, the berries were ready for harvest so he opened up The Bearded Frog Berry Patch. He sells the black raspberries in pints or you can come and pick your own.

Adam was so excited to hear about Lee’s side business venture and, over dinner a couple weeks ago, he told me that we had to check it out.

Berries were ready on June 24th at The Bearded Frog but, unfortunately, Adam’s schedule was crazy and he couldn’t get there. My schedule was a little more flexible so I was able to stop by the berry patch last week before work.

I arrived to the berry patch and was greeted by Lee and his young nephew. After grabbing a few pint containers and a wagon we headed out to the rows of black raspberries.

Lee pointed me in the direction of the best rows to pick from and then explained what to look for in order to pick the best berries. He said you wanted to find the darkest berries and when you did they would almost just pop off the plant.

He told me that they had planted all the berry plants during the fall of 2012 but didn’t have berries until this year. The season for black raspberries is only a couple weeks long and is typically in late June.

The three of us began picking and getting to know one another.

Lee asked me about my job and we made the connection that an old schoolmate of his is now a chef that works with me at Purdue University.

I asked him about how the berry patch got its unique name “The Bearded Frog.”

He explained that it’s an ode to the past as his fourth generation farm is in a town that was once called “Beard” and a neighboring town was called “Frog.”

I loved the play on the past and told him I can already vision some fun frog logos for the berry patch. Lee laughed saying that logos are something they are currently working on.

Lee told me they started with just the eight rows of berries to see how it goes. They may expand as the years go on and they find more uses for the berries. Lee mentioned he was interested to learn what it would take to sell to a local winery and have them create a black raspberry wine or even create a Bearded Frog branded black raspberry jam.

I asked him, “Why black raspberries?”

Lee first explained that there are not many other black raspberry growers in Indiana. Then he added, “And they are the best.”

He told me that black raspberries make the best pies. The best jam. And they are great on their own.

My very pink hands after berry picking 🙂

“I have probably had ten pounds straight off the vine,” Lee said with a laugh.

I laughed too and looked to his nephew who had told me earlier he was going into fifth grade this fall and that he helps his Uncle Lee at the berry patch a couple days a week. I jokingly asked him, “So are you sick of black raspberries yet?”

Without hesitation he replied, “Nope!”

And then he added, “But I have almost made myself sick from eating so many!”

I could see how.

The berries were great. They tasted wonderful and were a great size and texture.

After my early morning picking, I came home with eight pints. I froze four pints to make a pie later this summer. I also brought a couple pints to the lake for the 4th of July just to have around for a quick snack and made the great ice cream below for the Holiday as well.

The Bearded Frog Berry Patch is closing it’s berry season in the next week. The final days the patch will be open are July 12, 2014 from 7:00 AM to noon and July 14, 2014 from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

The Berry Patch is located at:
2566 East County Road 600 North
Frankfort, IN 46041

Be sure to Like The Bearded Frog Berry Patch on Facebook to learn more about the story behind their name, the farm, directions to the berry patch and to stay up to date with next years berries!

I made Sweet Corn Ice Cream with Black Raspberry Sauce using my fresh Black Raspberry’s. The recipe is from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, my favorite ice cream store in Columbus, Ohio. (Okay, it’s my favorite in the world. Just based out of Columbus.)

It was the quintessential taste of summer in the midwest.

Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry Ice Cream

2014-07-10 09:40:26

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Sweet Corn Ice Cream

1. 1 ear sweet corn, husked
2. 2 cups whole milk (tempted to save calories and use anything but whole milk? Don't. The texture gets messed up.)
3. 1 tablespoon cornstarch
4. 1 1/2 ounces cream cheese, softened
5. 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
6. 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
7. 2/3 cup sugar
8. 2 tablespoon light corn syrup

Black Raspberry Sauce

1. 2 cups black raspberries
2. 1 cup sugar

Black Raspberry Sauce

1. - Combine black raspberries and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
2. - Let cool slightly and force through a fine sieve to remove the seeds.
3. - Refrigerate until cold before using.

Sweet Corn Ice Cream

1. Prep-
2. - Slice kernels from the corn cob, then "milk" the cob by running the back of a knife down the husk to extract the liquid. Reserve the kernels and liquid.
3. - Mix 2 tablespoon of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
4. - Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
5. - Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
6. Cook-
7. - Combine remaining milk, cream, sugar, corn and juices, corn syrup in a sauce pan and bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Boil for 4 minutes.
8. - Remove from the heat and force the mixture through a sieve into a bowl, leaving the corn "cases" behind.
9. - Return the mixture to the saucepan and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
10. - Bring back to a boil and cook, stirring until slightly thickened about one minute. Remove from the heat.
11. Chill-
12. - Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.
13. - Pour complete mixture into a gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice and water bath. Let cool completely, about thirty minutes.
14. Freeze-
15. Pour ice cream base into frozen ice cream maker container and spin until thick and creamy. About twenty minutes.
16. Pack ice cream into a storage container, alternating with layers of ice cream and black raspberry sauce. Top with a spoonful of sauce.
17. Seal container and freeze in the freezer until firm. At least four hours.

By Jeni Britton Bauer

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

Bloom. https://www.theblogbloom.com/