The fact that we've left most of our land wild doesn't mean we don't use it to produce food. In late spring the wild blackberries begin to ripen. The past two years we only had a week to pick as many berries as possible before they were done. This year was unbelievable.
There is usually a sudden cold snap in mid April to mid May. My Grandma Eliza (pronounced 'Lizie), always called this blackberry winter, because it coincided with the blossoming of the blackberries. Whether the cold was a necessary trigger or merely a frequent coincidence, I don't know, but this year we had little cold snaps several weeks in a row and blackberry blossoms several weeks in a row. Most years the blossoms are small and so are the berries, but this year the flowers were much larger than usual. I predicted we would get extra large fruit and I wasn't wrong, What I didn't expect was berry picking that lasted over a month. We went out two to three times a week and picked over five gallons.
I should probably point out that the berry vines we have are small and low to the ground. Some plants consist of only a single cane. Even a fairly bushy plant will only produce a couple of dozen berries. We cleared a path that winds among the plants to make access for picking easier. It requires constant bending and reaching to harvest the low-growing berries. The thorns aren't really a problem as long as we don't make any sudden moves. Otherwise they can cause some nasty scratches. The fact that vicious bramble vines like to mingle with the berry canes makes even more caution necessary. Poison ivy also likes to sneak up and try to cause problems. I'm fortunate that I am not very sensitive, although I am told repeated contact increases sensitivity.
We don't even go into the woods without long pants and high top boots. Although we've never seen any, pigmy rattlesnakes and copperheads are well know in the area. Ticks and chiggers are a constant nuisance.
Another wild crop we have in abundance is sumac berries. Usually they ripen later in the summer, but this year we already have enough ripe berry clusters to get us started. We will dry the sumac berries, remove the seeds and powder the flesh for spice. I won't elaborate on the process because instructions and some important information is widely available elsewhere. My grandsons love to suck the ripe berries or make lemonade, but I like making roast sumac chicken.
We only pick a tiny portion, less than one percent of the blackberries and sumac, so there is plenty left for the birds and mammals to eat. They consume only about as much as we do and the rest returns to the soil.
There are plenty of other forage crops. Some of the greens and roots I want to get more experienced guidance before we try them. Other things, like morel mushrooms, sand plums, possum grapes, hack berries and choke cherries, I just need to learn their seasons.
I already know a lot of things in the woods that I shouldn't eat.
There is usually a sudden cold snap in mid April to mid May. My Grandma Eliza (pronounced 'Lizie), always called this blackberry winter, because it coincided with the blossoming of the blackberries. Whether the cold was a necessary trigger or merely a frequent coincidence, I don't know, but this year we had little cold snaps several weeks in a row and blackberry blossoms several weeks in a row. Most years the blossoms are small and so are the berries, but this year the flowers were much larger than usual. I predicted we would get extra large fruit and I wasn't wrong, What I didn't expect was berry picking that lasted over a month. We went out two to three times a week and picked over five gallons.
I should probably point out that the berry vines we have are small and low to the ground. Some plants consist of only a single cane. Even a fairly bushy plant will only produce a couple of dozen berries. We cleared a path that winds among the plants to make access for picking easier. It requires constant bending and reaching to harvest the low-growing berries. The thorns aren't really a problem as long as we don't make any sudden moves. Otherwise they can cause some nasty scratches. The fact that vicious bramble vines like to mingle with the berry canes makes even more caution necessary. Poison ivy also likes to sneak up and try to cause problems. I'm fortunate that I am not very sensitive, although I am told repeated contact increases sensitivity.
We don't even go into the woods without long pants and high top boots. Although we've never seen any, pigmy rattlesnakes and copperheads are well know in the area. Ticks and chiggers are a constant nuisance.
Another wild crop we have in abundance is sumac berries. Usually they ripen later in the summer, but this year we already have enough ripe berry clusters to get us started. We will dry the sumac berries, remove the seeds and powder the flesh for spice. I won't elaborate on the process because instructions and some important information is widely available elsewhere. My grandsons love to suck the ripe berries or make lemonade, but I like making roast sumac chicken.
We only pick a tiny portion, less than one percent of the blackberries and sumac, so there is plenty left for the birds and mammals to eat. They consume only about as much as we do and the rest returns to the soil.
There are plenty of other forage crops. Some of the greens and roots I want to get more experienced guidance before we try them. Other things, like morel mushrooms, sand plums, possum grapes, hack berries and choke cherries, I just need to learn their seasons.
I already know a lot of things in the woods that I shouldn't eat.
Ripening sumac berries.
Stephen
All photos are copyright 2017, Stephen P. Scott
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