Your Shot: Berries Are in Season and on the Menu

In summer, when many varieties of berries are ripe, you can eat them all day. Who would scoff at blueberries with yogurt or pancakes in the morning, raspberries in a salad at lunch, a berry smoothie for a snack, and strawberries with ice cream after dinner? Some of those meals might be good for you, too. Reports on the benefits of antioxidant-rich and calorie-low berries arrive as seasonally as the fruit itself.

But it doesn’t last long. The growing season for the popular summer varieties—raspberry, blackberry, and strawberry (not technically a berry, but that’s okay)—is brief, with some varieties only producing for one or two months. The unforgiving timeframe and prevalence of pests can make growing your own a bit tricky. And store-bought berries can be inconsistent; sometimes mealy, sometimes sour, sometimes flavorless.

Perhaps that fleeting nature explains the joy in these pictures of berries from our Your Shot photo community.