Berries and more Berries

Update: Something caught my eye yesterday as I walked by 'my' new found berry area and when I explored I found beautiful red highbush cranberries - which are not a true cranberry but that's what they are called. It is particularly important to do research when foraging berries because not all berries can be eaten in every state - meaning raw - and of course some are poisonous and can make a person very sick. In my research I learned how to tell the difference between Americanum and European highbush cranberry so I ventured out with my picking pail and my magnifying glass to inspect the leaves and was pleased to find out this bush is the native Americanum variety.

The berries were not quite ripe enough so I will return next week.  I also learned that the berries, when being boiled, have a strong unpleasant smell so I plan on doing that process in one of my outbuildings with a hotplate. I found a recipe for a wild highbush cranberry/apple compote which I will try.

I missed out on the strawberry season which was extremely quick up here this year because of the weather. Until I can come up with a solution, I have go to a strawberry farm for picking as the animals eat the fruit on the wild strawberry plants on my property before I even see them growing. I did find a raspberry patch nearby and I enjoyed picking and eating a handful of berries a day, back in July. I found the patch by following the strong sweet smell of berries down into a steep gully! The first pick was very difficult as everything was so overgrown and until I made a path through the patch, it was hard to move more than a few inches at a time. Also in the same area I discovered there are black currants and choke cherry bushes.

Teaka likes to forage berries too.  As I am picking berries for my bucket, she is eating the low lying fruit - raspberries, black currants and choke cherry.  One morning she was growl barking at something in the bushes so I turned around and went back home - not certain what it was but I sure didn't want to meet up with a bear. Also recently I have heard the nighttime cries of a lynx.

I was looking forward to picking blueberries with my neighbour this year but unfortunately that did not happen. The road to the patch was washed out and it was too far of a hike to reach the blueberries.  Blueberry bushes do not like clay soil so they don't naturally grow in this area, which is also why I haven't had luck with growing them on my property.  Next year I will plan a few day trips to the Elk Lake area for blueberry patch hunting.  Generally blueberry patch locations are somewhat of a prized secret for locals.

Black currant & choke cherries: they look similar but taste very different:

I made juice concentrate from the black currants and choke cherries that I picked, preferring the taste of the black currants. Both berries are high in antioxidants and vitamin C.  Choke cherries also have plenty of fibre and black currants contain vitamin E, potassium, iron, magnesium, and b-vitamins. A lifestyle of foraging has begun!

Here's a video of Teaka taking a shortcut to the berry patch.  I diligently walk around the soy bean field to reach the patch.  Listen to the insects: 

  

It may not look like much but this gully is full of good berries: