What do you forage?

[WildBird]

I know places I can pick wild plums, apples, elderberries, blackberries, and thimbleberries (for those who don't know it's like a wild raspberry).

I also pick wild yarrow and use it for beestings, cuts, bugbites, and such.

 

[DelcoMama82]

I know places I can pick wild plums, apples, elderberries, blackberries, and thimbleberries (for those who don't know it's like a wild raspberry).

I also pick wild yarrow and use it for beestings, cuts, bugbites, and such.

Are those wild fruits growing on their own or abandoned by previous owners?

 

[flowerbug]

thimbleberries i used to pick up north. a very unique flavor IMO. and very annoying in that you will see the perfectly ripe berry on the plant and go to grab it and the vibration of your foot on the ground or any nudging of the plant and it will fall off. kind of a sticky sweet flavor to me. i only wanted a few when i picked them.

the last time i picked them was on a hillside and had a nice bowl and was going for that last ripe berry when it fell off and i turned my ankle on a rock and dumped the bowl on the hillside and myself too.

the hillside is now a building and the railroad tracks and nice woodland along the bank of the canal were razed when they ran a sewer line along there and then replaced the railroad tracks by a paved bike trail, they lined the bank with poor rock from the copper mines (there's a huge amount of that laying around in piles up there).

right before i left that area i was walking along that new trail and i saw this very oddly shaped rock sitting there and so i picked it up and found out it was almost entirely solid native copper. i still have it as a parting gift after spending 15 years in that area and enjoying the history and the wild areas left and walking all those streams.

hmm, well back to thimble berries and foraging, the guys at the monastery up there used to buy (not sure if they still do) berries from people who would pick for them to make jams and then they sold the jams to support their monastery (i know they still do that ). they have a perfect location for it up there on the shore of Lake Superior... at one time i considered joining them.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

@flowerbug - so glad you got off track a little with your thimbleberry story! Love hearing memories and thoughts and a little bit of history all wrapped up in one story!

 

[DelcoMama82]

That’s some beautiful imagery!
You certainly know a lot about that area too. I’m not sure I know anywhere I’ve lived that well.... though I guess I haven’t spent 15 years in one place yet either.
I’m always looking for new items to forage and places to forage.
Perhaps this spring will bring about some new inspiration!

 

[flowerbug]

That’s some beautiful imagery!
You certainly know a lot about that area too. I’m not sure I know anywhere I’ve lived that well.... though I guess I haven’t spent 15 years in one place yet either.
I’m always looking for new items to forage and places to forage.
Perhaps this spring will bring about some new inspiration!

i find it interesting to contemplate living someplace where you could plant out fruit tree starts and berry bushes of various kinds with some expectation that you might eventually be able to go back and get some harvest from them. around here that is a real gamble with all the deer grazing and once you start putting up protective fencing then you aren't able to do that very stealthily on other people's property or at the parks...

 

[WildBird]

Are those wild fruits growing on their own or abandoned by previous owners?

I believe the plums and maybe some of the apples were planted several decades ago and have since grown wild, but the elderberries, thimbleberries, and blackberries are pure wild.

 

[DelcoMama82]

i find it interesting to contemplate living someplace where you could plant out fruit tree starts and berry bushes of various kinds with some expectation that you might eventually be able to go back and get some harvest from them. around here that is a real gamble with all the deer grazing and once you start putting up protective fencing then you aren't able to do that very stealthily on other people's property or at the parks...

It’s the only way I’ve ever known. Suburbia!
You either grow your own, pay for what you pick, or buy from the grocery store. We’d have to get away a bit to find wild and free anything.
We do get lucky with things at the state park which is pretty close to us. But the park rangers drive around and tell us the newest rules like only use bags, no buckets, only collect what we are planning on eating at the park.

 

[flowerbug]

It’s the only way I’ve ever known. Suburbia!
You either grow your own, pay for what you pick, or buy from the grocery store. We’d have to get away a bit to find wild and free anything.
We do get lucky with things at the state park which is pretty close to us. But the park rangers drive around and tell us the newest rules like only use bags, no buckets, only collect what we are planning on eating at the park.

i guess i understand their point on the latter part, but bag vs bucket makes little sense to me, ah well...

and it is not something i've ever had happen to me when out picking but i think that is mostly because i've hardly ever picked in a park where rangers are around. i can't even remember the last time when fishing i ran into a ranger either to check the license or anything. when i headed out to do things it was into the wild.

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Here, they don't allow picking in the parks. They even won't allow you to stick a pretty shell or rock in your pocket to take home. At least, that's what the signs say.