It's Time To Pick Wild Berries

Across the Fence #302

The wild blackberries called to us from their home among the weeds and thorns, “Come and pick us. We’re ripe and ready. We’ve been waiting for you.” The mosquitoes were waiting for us too. As soon as we entered the blackberry patch, they attacked in waves, like a flight of World War II Mustang fighter planes going after a German bomber. Back off, I’m full of Norwegian blood, but they kept attacking and seemed to enjoy a feast of my Norske blood. There was no turning back or retreating. This was war, and the prize was hundreds of plump, juicy, wild blackberries.

For anyone who’s been barricaded in their house this summer, with the windows and doors shut tight, let me tell you, this warm, humid, very wet summer we’ve had, has produced an army of mosquitoes and they’re all looking for blood. I think I’ve given at least a pint or two so far. Outdoor activities this summer are not for the feint of heart. It’s a battleground, especially along shaded areas and bushes. Once the sun goes down, forget it. You might as well retreat to the safety of your house until the sun returns.

Whatever you do outside this summer requires the proper clothing and a variety of bug sprays. Even nasty smelling “bug shirts” don’t work this year. When our daughter, Amy, and her fiancé, Tim, visited this weekend, we went blackberry and plum picking. Like a good fisherman who won’t disclose where he catches all his fish, I can’t tell you where we picked them. However, I will let you know that next year, all those blackberry bushes and plum trees will be destroyed because of the “multi-million dollar, four and a half mile, four-lane highway that the DOT is spending your hard-earned tax dollars for. It ranks right up there with that $231 million dollar bridge they built to nowhere in Alaska, just because a politician added it as pork barrel to a transportation bill. But I’m sailing up a different fjord here. I won’t talk about how the government wastes our tax dollars.

Let’s get back to mosquitoes and berry picking. If you’re going to pick berries, you need to dress properly. A suit of armor will work, but it gets mighty heavy and extremely hot inside. I should mention that blackberries and raspberries are ready for the pickin’ during the hottest, most humid time of the year, the dog days of summer. Even a dog has the sense to lie in the shade and stay out of a berry patch in August.

However, the thought of enjoying those berries with your cereal in the morning, or topping off a bowl of ice cream with a patriotic combination, is too much temptation for us mere mortals to turn our backs on. What’s a patriotic combo you ask? It’s a dish of vanilla ice cream topped with red raspberries and blueberries. It doesn’t get much better than that. It even rivals a radish, onion, and carrot sandwich. It makes getting torn and bloodied in a raspberry or blackberry bush, and peppered with mosquito bites almost worth the pain and discomfort.

We also picked a bucket of red plums that will make some tasty jelly for this winter.

Elderberries are another wild fruit that’s ripe for picking. They’re one of the most common fruit-bearing shrubs in North America. Even when I was young, I loved to break off a branch, loaded with the small, purple berries and eat them. I’m sure you’ve all heard of elderberry wine. We have many shrubs growing near the house and I’ll do some picking of them too. The berries are a valuable food source for birds, so I guess I’ll have to share the bounty with them.

All these berries I’ve mentioned can be found growing in the wild around us. All you need to do is get out of your air-conditioned house and spend some time in the heat, humidity, and among the mosquitoes and bugs, while you do some picking. The rewards are worth it.

A word of caution to potential berry pickers; not all berries that look good to eat are edible. Some can be poisonous. Be aware of the differences before you pop one in your mouth. Also be aware of brush and weeds around you. Several plants can make you itch or even break out in hives and blisters.

One more wonderful fruit you can look for this fall are wild grapes. When we still had a windmill, grape vines would climb up and cover the lower half. You can still see a few windmills covered with vines. We’d climb on the windmill and pick big clusters of purple grapes. Just like the berries we picked, a good share of them ended up in our stomachs before they reached the house, where Ma made them into jams and jellies. The jars were then stored in the cellar where we retrieved them in the cold, winter months. As we emerged from the cellar with the jars in hand, a cold blast of wind would hit us in the face. It was hard to remember how hot it had been when we picked them. At least there were no mosquitoes around.

Have a happy berry picking adventure, as you fill your stomach now, and your cellar (or freezer) for the winter.