blackberry winter
n.— «It’s only April 9. It’s early and for most crops in the garden things can be replanted.…There may be some delay in when the crop is harvested, and yield may suffer, but freezes at this time of year are not uncommon. In fact we even have a term for it: “blackberry winter.”» —“Arkansas vegetable growers evaluating freeze damage” by Mary F. Hightower Delta Farm Press Apr. 11, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
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The phrase was used as the title of Margaret Mead’s memoir, first published in 1972.
there are 3 othwr “winters” that I have heard of. one is dogwood & I do not know the other two. all corespond to planting time & frost warning.
I thought Blackberry Winter was when RIM’s servers went down and you couldn’t get your email anymore 😉
My Grandmother (b. 1870 d. 1955) always spoke of Blackberry Winters when an intense change of season happened out of its normal order in our home of upcountry SC and North GA.