It's the perfect time of year to enjoy berries ripe from the garden, roadside stand or any number of area farmers markets.

In addition to being flavorful, colorful and tasty, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries are packed with important nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy.

Berries are a delicious way to get antioxidants, phytochemicals and other important nutrients that may reduce cancer rates.

But first and foremost, they're just good eatin'.

Grown throughout the Golden State, strawberries generally hog the spotlight this time of year.

But right now, blackberries also are at their peak. Native to North America, about 85 percent of the cultivated blackberries in this country come from Oregon, particularly the Willamette Valley, where climate and soils are just right to ensure sweet, plump fruit.

Blackberries come in several varieties. Evergreen blackberries are native, wild blackberries of England and are often considered the traditional blackberry. They are medium-sized with large seeds. Hull blackberries are large and plump, but not quite as sweet as the other varieties. Considered medium-sized, chesters are tasty, round blackberries.

Marionberries are a native of Oregon, a cross between Chehalem blackberries and olallieberries. They are of medium size, dark red to black in color.

There are also several hybrid varieties. A cross between blackberries and red raspberries, loganberries have a distinctly tart flavor. This medium-sized, deep red berry has medium seeds. It produces a sweet-tart juice for drinking, is used in pies and is popular with home winemakers.

Boysenberries are considered a blackberry crossed with a loganberry or red raspberry. They are very large plump, juicy berries with a deep maroon color and large seeds.

Olallieberries are slightly longer and more slender than the boysenberry and are a cross between blackberries, logan and youngberries. Grown mainly on the West Coast, the olallieberry has a distinct sweet flavor and resembles a large, elongated blackberry. It makes excellent jams and jellies.

The youngberry is a hybrid blackberry variety that has a red color and a juicy, sweet flesh. This plant was developed in Morgan City, La., by B.M. Young in 1905 and introduced to gardeners in the mid-1920s. It is not grown on a large scale in California.

Then there's another summertime favorite, a close relative of the blackberry -- the raspberry. It's a tart-sweet red composite fruit grown throughout the country in summer and early autumn. The raspberry also comes in a golden variety that is found locally because a commercial operation in Sonoma County supplies it to local markets. Leaves of the raspberry cane are used fresh or dried in herbal and medicinal teas.

Still the strawberry is the favorite of many for eating out of hand during warm summer months. While long-term health benefits are compelling, for some the immediate reward is equally fulfilling. A nutrient- dense fruit, strawberries also have the added benefit of great taste while being high in fiber.

Red, juicy and conically shaped, the strawberry is a member of the rose family and has grown wild for centuries in both the Americas and Europe. The Romans valued the fruit for its reputed therapeutic powers for everything from loose teeth to gastritis.

However, it wasn't until the late 13th century that the plant was first cultivated. The most common American variety is the result of several centuries of crossbreeding of the wild Virginia strawberry -- North America's main native strawberry -- and a Chilean variety. It's probably today's most hardy berry and is able to withstand both shipping and storage.

More flavorful, however, are European Alpine strawberries -- the tiny, exquisitely sweet wild strawberries of France known as "fraises des bois" (strawberries of the woods).

And finally, let's not forget the blueberry. Round and smooth-skinned, these blue/black berries are juicy and sweet. They are grown in abundance in Oregon and make wonderful pies and crisps ideal for summer desserts.