Is This the

ULTIMATE

Theme Park Souvenir?

by Jessica The Theme Parkette

In 2022, at Knott's Berry Farm's annual Boysenberry Festival, which celebrates the berry that "started it all" for the Knott family, I bought what might be the ultimate theme park souvenir -

A boysenberry plant.

Thankfully, as a Californian, my house is within driving distance to Knott's, and though I have absolutely no green thumb whatsoever (despite my last name being Gardner, haha) I made the purchase. I thought about how cool it would be to actually grow something that was truly a piece of theme park history in my own backyard. Here's the video -

Year one, only one boysenberry popped up. We planted it in the ground and bought it a trellis, but it didn't become truly impressive until year two when suddenly, it really blossomed.

A month and a half later, we had enough for a pie and then some! As someone who has restrictive digestive issues, I'd never actually had a piece of Knott's Boysenberry pie. So I made some adjustments to the original recipe and enjoyed my first slice, from the berries in my own backyard. It was truly an awesome day and I just couldn't help but think it was the best theme park souvenir of all time. I'll drop my recipe below!

My recipe:

1 premade crust (I used Wholly Gluten Free)

3 cups fresh boysenberries (preferably from your OWN GARDEN!)

Sprinkle with lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour (I used Trader Joe's gluten free)

Mix

 

Top with crumble:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 tblsp butter

Mix

 

Bake 400 degrees for 40 minutes