Blackberries are the best berry in the Northwest (and all of North America) for its weed/taste duality. Blackberries creep and crawl along valleys, highway off-ramps, fields, and residential areas. The most common type of Blackberry here in the Pacific Northwest is the Himalayan Blackberry, which is not native. Though the native variety has a sweeter more reliable flavor (though they both are sweet) and is in season before it, the Himalayan Blackberry starts the Blackberry Season, in the Pacific Northwest, because of its prevalence and its ability to make “compact” bushes. The Native Blackberry by comparison rolls along the ground and occasionally makes vines in bushes—sometimes in other blackberry bushes. However, there is one more blackberry type in the Pacific Northwest—that is not native native, but still more prevalent than the native one: Evergreen Blackberries.
Because of the invasive species label the bush type blackberries have, it is best to eat as much as you can of them and in late September, when mold covers the Blackberries, you should cut down its stalks and pull up its medicinal roots*. Still, other berries in the Pacific Northwest that are native and have a great flavor like the Salmon Berry (which is real, mind you) comes at a similar time as the Native Blackberry and for Salmon Berries an acquired taste comes about for unripe berries. When the Salmon Berry is a pale orange color it should not be picked; it is much better to pick the Salmon Berry when it is red and juicy—then it is as sweet as any other respectful berry. (This next section is longer, so it is advised to skip the second part if you want to get back to the blackberries.)
Another great local berry is Salal Berries; it ripens at about August 20th late July and continues to be ripe until the fall rains casts a mold effect. When ripened these berries have a purple-ish black color and it looks like a mini-black olive. To be sure it is this berry, if you’re a wild-food-phoebe; unfurl the berry so it looks like it has a grainy structure inside and tiny black seeds (these two are somewhat of a feature). The ultimate test is to eat it, and if it is sweet then it’s a go, if not, spit it out, take a picture of the plant and never eat from it again! (I would suggest using good picking techniques that we will talk about later in the blog.) Since, the berries form in clusters and it’s connected to a red-ish, sometimes sticky, branch you can rest assured that this is a Salal Berry and the wild-food-phobia should disappear. Another way to tell if the berry is a Salal Berry is if it once had white, bell-ish flowers on it in late spring and early summer—after that, it will have green berries on it.
Another Northwest Native is common in the temperate North America: the Huckleberry. In modern day it is mainly associated with the great Twain satire “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”—and it is a true wild berry, with a great sweet-and-sour flavor. The Huckleberry has never been domesticated, because of demanding environmental conditions needed to grow them. Though I’d like to grow these amazing berries they need: a (tree) stump and acid conditions, preferably 100 times greater acidity than most plants (pH of 4 as opposed to 6). You could try to grow them hydroponically, but that would be quite an investment. How about grow blueberries instead? Therefore, it is best to forage for them—hopefully with a trusted guide or book. Who’s working on the smartphone app.?
Since it’s necessary to stop the spread of non-native blackberries we should eat as much of them as possible. Now that’s some environmentalism I can get… um …eat behind! Here are the basics in order (mostly) of usefulness:
- Know the places. This goes along with the adage “you are what you eat”. In essence, if you eat cyanide your body will contain cyanide, which causes cancer. So, even though those Blackberries off 90 at Factoria may look really good, it is because nobody wants to eat blackberries that are laced with lead and mercury from the gasoline (the brain damage package—now at Costco). Also, evading cars might be fun on a bicycle, but pedestrians cannot accelerate as quickly as a bicyclist can.
- Know your blackberry. This goes along with the adage “Ow!—I just got cut by a mother%!@#ing blackberry thorn!” More likely than not, a person won’t put on sweatpants, a long-sleeve-tee-shirt, gloves, and shoes/boots with socks on an 80f degree day! Call me crazy, but I think most blackberry picking occurs on the perimeter of the bush when you’re out of breathe from running or bicycling, or just on a sunny day in a park or on a trail (Ha, just kidding there’s no sun today and I still picked them). So, chances are you’re in your crocs with short sleeves and shorts (or the equivalent) on your blackberry encounter. It is ok, this happens to me, too. Granted, I've been picking them so long I've become crazy, so minor scratches don’t bother me. However, if you’re, somehow, not like me then you do not want to “get scratched up”. Well, if you knew your favorite places then you could remember the little inlets and outlets to the center of the bush—where the best blackberries are. Even then, you could know where the younger section is—this can lead you to the center as well. Once you've cut a path, remember to take only how much you need, plus a bit more for “good luck”, I guess. However, “we” at “blackberries are for picking” will still want you to wear appropriate clothing while on your adventure.
- “Dress for success”—or in better words: “Ow!—I just got cut by a thorn, and now it’s got my shirt—help. Oh (insert higher power/flying spaghetti monster here) I should have worn long-pants! Ahhh!” See, doesn’t that get the point across better than clichés? Well, if you’ve spent time tangling with blackberries you definitively get the point. If not, then here’s the attire that should accompany a good pick:shoes/boots, long-sleeve-tee-shirt (green for protection from the sun and stains), sweat pants (that are old or stained), and socks, definitely socks.
- Containers, containers, containers—these are insanely important. Remember this: keep one bucket or large bowl, whatever, in your sight at all times, when exploring new areas keep a cup, or something like that, with you as a scouting container, and when the scouting cup is filled always put it in the larger container. The best type of cup is something that can fit in a pocket or clip on to something; this will allow two hands to search at once. A good thing to have instead, or in addition, is a lid—well, I’ll let you figure that one out.
- Treading lightly is a thing of the past. If you have to stomp, do it. A very important part of the blackberry experience is making a path for others to follow, or finding your way back. One time, my trail was so successful (there were other people involved, too) that I found the source of the blackberry patch. The vines were nearly vertical in shape and they looked like they were in rows. That particular source was at my house, so that information is very useful. Remember, the vines may have thorns, but it’s not completely covered in thorns (now do you think I’m crazy). Well, the skill here is to bend the blackberry vine. Be wary of large vines, since they can hurt you more. (I’ll let you experience it before telling you all about the logistics, let’s say it can really bend.)
- By now you’re in the hearth of the bush, so the next thing you need to know is an old rule of foraging: “if it’s too good to be true it probably is”—meaning that those ripe Salmon Berries might have stinging nettles in the way and you should probably not go pick them with shorts and sandals on, true story. (This happened two weeks ago.) So, if those are the ripest, easily reached blackberries that look so tasty you want to make them last for a thousand years, and you’re burning with the intensity of twenty quasars jetting a stream of high energy particles at one point and, and… well, you should probably look around before trampling over yourself and hurting like hell for twenty minutes, or more if you live east of the Cascades. In theory you could wear protective clothing for this, but there might be more hidden problems, so just look around.
- Don’t be afraid of bugs. This is probably a bad piece of advice for the insect-phoebes’ and aracna-phoebes’ among us (I mean spiders are named after an arrogant weaver who challenged Athena, who wouldn’t be afraid of them?), but it should be noted that some bugs simply love the taste of blackberries, I say you can just drown them in water when you get home, and washing solves everything. If insecticide-less blackberries give you nightmares then how about you make a pie or cobbler to kill bad bacteria that are in such minute quantities that baking the berries for disease protection renders it moot. That should make you feel much better. Just, please feel free to eat a fresh blackberry, there’s no danger in it.
- Eat it, just it, eat it, eat it, eat it!” (Weird Al reference, I think so.) If you don’t eat your blackberries and they sit in the refrigerator you’re going to have mold in two weeks or a bit less. So, if you can’t eat them all fresh, just freeze them, can them, or make things out of them. Much better than wasting space, I think.
- Bring family and friends. The effort goes a lot smoother and quicker with a group. In fact, they can eat as much as they want and still never touch the surface. Therefore, you can get more gain without dealing with diminishing results, a win-win.
- Share your spots with your friends. Even though this may seem counter-intuitive it is good for the Native Blackberry. With your help we can stop the invasive species from truly threatening the natives.
The next post will contain information on good picking technique, since it is "extremely" important.
*The blackberry roots have some medicinal value, helping diarrhea. Preparing it is just cutting them up and putting them in vodka for a few weeks to make medicine. The internet knows all.
No comments:
Post a Comment