Summer Berry Foraging
Last week, Gabriel brought blueberries home from the farmer’s market. This week, the wild blackberries are turning from green to pink to red. And so, in honor of the abundance of summer, I wanted to re-post this article from last year about some of the produce that can be foraged at this time of year.
Earlier in the Spring, I wrote about how I didn’t believe it was possible to starve to death here in Tennessee (and in lots of other places!). That’s just one of the many things I love about this place.
Now that it’s summer, there aren’t as many greens to forage, but the blackberries are ripening! I’m so excited! Last year, I didn’t get to pick any thanks to Garrett being a fussy newborn. This year, I hope to pick enough to make up for it.
sorry for the not-so-great pic. Garrett was being wiggly!
Last year at the farmer’s market, blackberries were selling for twenty dollars a gallon – and those were tame blackberries! If you frequent U-pick farms (or even if you don’t!) I highly recommend finding some wild blackberries to forage instead. You will save a bundle of money, and wild blackberries have better flavor and smaller seeds. In my opinion, they’re well worth braving the stickers and chiggers for.
I remember picking blackberries in Illinois once and coming across a patch of wild gooseberries. That was pretty cool, too!
Also in the berry category is mulberries. We used to have a mulberry tree in our front yard. We’d (us kids) lay a tarp underneath the tree and try to get somebody to climb the tree and shake the branches for us. That was the biggest mulberry tree I’ve ever seen – too big to climb! Most mulberry trees I’ve seen, though are much smaller and easier to harvest.
I love mulberries even better than blackberries, if that’s possible.
Wild passion fruit is another great summer fruit.
As kids, we used to find it by the creek and eat the seeds out.
And speaking of things found by the creek, don’t forget about jewelweed. If you follow a creek very far, you will find some.
Did you know that jewelweed is a type of Impatien? I didn’t know that. But anyway, it’s great for skin irritations like poison ivy (if you happen to get into any while picking blackberries ). You can crush it and use the juice. Or, if you’re a soap maker, add some to a batch of soap.
Last but not least – no, not at all! – we have elderberries. I think they usually ripen sometime in September around here, but everything seems to be ripening early this year – that’s fine with me!
Here’s what ours looks like right now:
Mostly still blooming with a few clusters of little green berries here and there.
Here’s what they should look like when they’re ripe:
Elderberries are often hailed as a superfood. You can buy elderberry supplements meant to help ward off common sicknesses. I prefer to stick with the real thing myself.
Ah, all these berries are making me hungry!
