One little thing to notice together this weekend.
There comes a point in August when the hedgerows begin to change.
Among all that green, the blackberries are ripening.
Some are still hard and green. Others have turned red. And tucked between them, you might find the first deep purple-black berries ready to pick.
So this weekend, we're going blackberry spotting.
Your little weekend challenge
Head outside and find a blackberry bramble.
You don't need to go anywhere special. Try a local lane, park, woodland edge or hedgerow.
See if you can find:
🌿 a green blackberry
🔴 a red blackberry
🫐 a ripe blackberry
Look closely. You may even find all three growing beside each other.
If you find ripe berries somewhere safe to pick, you could bring a few home.... although eating one straight from the hedgerow is part of the fun!
Grown ups: Only pick berries you can confidently identify and avoid berries growing beside busy roads or where they may have been sprayed.
A little sign that summer is turning
Blackberries are one of those quiet markers of the Irish year.
The days may still feel like summer, but the hedgerows are beginning to tell a different story.
Fruit is ripening. Seeds are forming. The evenings are drawing in.
Autumn isn't quite here.
But it's on its way.
And children don't need to know the date on the calendar to notice it.
An old Irish story about blackberries
Blackberries have long been woven into Irish seasonal folklore.
One old tradition warned against picking blackberries after Samhain. It was said that the púca, a mischievous figure from Irish folklore, would spoil the berries after the beginning of the darker half of the year.
There were all sorts of versions of the story, depending on where it was told.
Behind the folklore was a useful seasonal reminder that blackberry season doesn't last forever.
For now, though, the first berries are only beginning to ripen.
So this weekend, see if you can find them.
Make it as small as you need
You don't need to turn this into an afternoon activity.
Ten minutes counts.
The walk to the shop counts.
Stopping beside a hedgerow on the way home counts.
Little Sprouts Weekend isn't about finding more things to fit into family life.
It's about noticing a little more of what's already there.
This weekend: find the ripening blackberries.
And see if you can spot summer beginning to turn.
