Being stabbed by prickles and scratched by thorns is the happy price one pays for collecting the blackberries that cover the countryside of Canberra.

"One for me, one for the bucket, one for me, one for the bucket."

Such was my mantra last weekend when I had my arms scratched and hands stained purple while blackberry hunting.

Blackberries are a weed of national significance covering our roadsides, tangling their way through our forests and hugging our creek sides.

However in late summer, and early autumn we no longer curse them, but look at them hungrily in anticipation of the harvest.

We found a particularly good patch on the border of the ACT and New South Wales with plenty of areas to choose from, next to Deep creek.

The afternoon was perfect, with the sun hidden behind low clouds, as my friends and I filled old yogurt containers and empty honey pots with nature's bounty.

It was my first time collecting berries, so my friends who had been last year passed on few lessons.

Number one; wear old jeans and a shirt which you don't mind being dyed purple.

Number two; bring secateurs to cut through the patch so you can reach in for the more luscious nuggets at the back.

Number three; always bring more containers than you think you will need as the berries are abundant.

And number four, don't eat as you pick.

This was a lesson I didn't heed, and couldn't resist the dark seductive temptress that is the blackberry.

As a result I discovered my plastic container wasn't filling as fast as the others, and I was sharply told by the crew that it isn't done to eat all the berries on the day of picking.

Plus I started to experience the rather giddy feeling of having had too much sugar, and began thinking about the need to add fresh cream to my snacks.

A loud yell broke my thoughts, as one of our team suddenly slipped and dropped into the patch.

He had been balancing on top of the blackberry canes, but now his feet were dangling into the wombat hole hidden below.

Suddenly a moral dilemma arose - do we grab his two hands to pull him out and risk losing the berries, or leave him straddling the unforgiving thorns to gingerly take the bucket to safety?

No prizes for guessing what happened next, but let's just say no berries were lost in the making of dessert that night.

As we later sighed appreciatively over bowls of berries and cream, we realised that a fifth lesson had been learnt this year...next season we'll bring planks to balance on.

This is a method used by someone much more experienced than us, Nicky Grigg from the grass roots sustanability group See-Change. Having collected berries for over a decade, Nicky shared her tips with Louise Maher on Drive.

The other important tip is to check which blackberries have been sprayed either by checking out the list on our 666 Drive blog, or call Canberra Connect.