Berries of the wild

[street]

Since retiring I have eaten healthier but eating more so I need to change some things going forward. I eat every meal now WOW that is something I never did while working. Not eating all healthy either!

I own a ranch and there are wild berries that live there and produce some wonderful fruit. I have harvested goose berries, black currants, choke cherry and plums. After researching these fruits there is some great benefit and valve to the fruit. I wash clean and freeze all fruit and eat through the winter.

There is nothing like picking these berries and eating them as you watch the snow falling. It is rewarding to know the valve they have and just knowing nothing is added to preserve them and all natural. Even if there wasn't any health benefit from the fruit itself is a benefit for knowing that these berries are all natural and blessing to have.

Does anyone else do this and have you eaten these types of berries?

 

[Big_Hitter]

we get wild huckleberries during the summer

 

[Sittinginthesun]

I eat "wild" blueberries every day. These are the very small, more intense blueberry flavor ones. Buy big bags of frozen and take a full cup full with some ground flax seed in the container to soak up the juice as they defrost and eat them mid-afternoon. Super high in antioxidants (double the larger farmed variety) and delicious!

 

[MRG]

Love picking wild berries, haven't for years. The little wild strawberries have so much taste but they're a lot of work.

My favorite find in the outdoor is Morel mushrooms.

 

[ERD50]

I'm familiar with chokecherry, and it deserves the name. A good flavor, but so bitter/tart/tannin/pucker-y that I can't do more than just a little taste.

Never tried sweetening them, but I imagine you'd just get a super pucker-y sweet-tart. How do you eat them? How do you preserve these - canned, dried, frozen, jelly/jam?

-ERD50

 

[flintnational]

In the south we have wild plums. Although I don't see them as often these days. When we lived in Northern Va. I found wild raspberries along the golf course. I have eaten tiny wild blue berries growing in the higher elevations along the Appalachian trail. And the fondest berry memory is the bullaces (wild muscadines) my grandmother used to make the best jelly. We would put the jelly and butter in her warm homemade biscuits. Nothing better.

FN

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Those berries sound good. Unfortunately they're tough to find around here. In my yard we have wild Texas Persimmons, agarita, Chile Pequin, lantana, Sea Purslane, Turk's cap, and Yucca. Most stuff around here is toxic or very sharp and stickery. You have to be careful what you burn, like Oleander, which is toxic and can kill humans and animals who eat it.

 

[street]

I eat "wild" blueberries every day. These are the very small, more intense blueberry flavor ones. Buy big bags of frozen and take a full cup full with some ground flax seed in the container to soak up the juice as they defrost and eat them mid-afternoon. Super high in antioxidants (double the larger farmed variety) and delicious!

That sounds great! The Black Currents IMO taste just about like the blueberry. I bet that snack is great for cholesterol. I eat flax everyday and I believe it has been good for me health wise in many ways.

 

[street]

I'm familiar with chokecherry, and it deserves the name. A good flavor, but so bitter/tart/tannin/pucker-y that I can't do more than just a little taste.

Never tried sweetening them, but I imagine you'd just get a super pucker-y sweet-tart. How do you eat them? How do you preserve these - canned, dried, frozen, jelly/jam?

-ERD50

I harvested my choke cherries in early Sept. and the tartness was gone. In early August they can be some very tart. The later you pick them the quality goes up. I freeze them and have a small bowl of them and they are very good and no tartness what so ever.

 

[travelover]

Here in the PNW, there are invasive Himalayan blackberries everywhere along the road sides. They are ripe from August through September. When I walk, I eat them until I get sick of them.

 

[ERD50]

I harvested my choke cherries in early Sept. and the tartness was gone. In early August they can be some very tart. The later you pick them the quality goes up. I freeze them and have a small bowl of them and they are very good and no tartness what so ever.

That sounds awesome. I never knew the tartness went away later. They always seemed very ripe to me but still very tart, but this can vary tree-by-tree or by area (different soils). The ones I knew of had a pit almost the size of the fruit - a pit with a thin layer of fruit/skin around it. Now I recall, one neighbor made a "cough syrup" from them, like a sweet, thick dessert liquor. No need to wait for a cough though.

No one mentioned mulberries? That's another one where some trees were just ok, others nice and sweet. Neighbor made wonderful mulberry pies.

-ERD50

 

[Sittinginthesun]

That sounds great! The Black Currents IMO taste just about like the blueberry. I bet that snack is great for cholesterol. I eat flax everyday and I believe it has been good for me health wise in many ways.

I just had my blood tested on Friday for my annual physical. Got online results within 12 hours (amazing!) and my cholesterol has been dropping over the last few years. I take a very low dose statin which is the primary reason for the drop but eat ground flax seed, blueberries, etc daily. Need to increase my HDL so eating almonds daily and need more oily fish and olive oil.

 

[splitwdw]

I harvested my choke cherries in early Sept. and the tartness was gone. In early August they can be some very tart. The later you pick them the quality goes up. I freeze them and have a small bowl of them and they are very good and no tartness what so ever.

street, Are you sure they are chokecherries? I made a jelly in the past with an older neighbor and it wasn't bad but the raw fruit is so bitter/tart it's hard to eat raw, hence the name, chokecherry. The fruit isn't that big, I can't imagine spitting out all those little pits if you are eating them raw.

 

[RAE]

I have blackberries, black elderberries, and black currants all growing in my yard (from plants I started there years ago). Chokecherries grow wild around here. Every year I pick and freeze LOTS of blackberries, for eating during the winter months. I also pick plenty of black currants, elderberries, and chokecherries, but most of those go into making wine. We have been making chokecherry wine for 10+ years now, and it's one of our better wines. In recent years we have been making wine with blends of the other fruit also........right now I have 10 gallons of blended elderberries/black currants/blackberries in the fermenter, and I think that is going to make very good wine also. We make dry wines, so there is no residual sugar.

I always freeze some elderberries and save them for eating during cold/flu season. Black elderberries contain anti-viral compounds, and if you eat them at the first sign of cold or flu, you can often lessen the severity/duration of the illness. I've tried it, and it does work.

We also have grape vines, and make a decent concord grape wine too.......

 

[street]

street, Are you sure they are chokecherries? I made a jelly in the past with an older neighbor and it wasn't bad but the raw fruit is so bitter/tart it's hard to eat raw, hence the name, chokecherry. The fruit isn't that big, I can't imagine spitting out all those little pits if you are eating them raw.

LOL >>> yep we are talking about the same thing (chokecherry) and yes then can be very bitter/tart. Early in the season even when they seem mature all dark purple they can be very tart. I like to pick as late as I can and try to beat the birds from getting all of them. The best time is Sept. and they have calmed right down any way in my high country area. You are right the fruit isn't that big and pit is large compared to fruit but I really like them as a snack.

 

[street]

I have blackberries, black elderberries, and black currants all growing in my yard (from plants I started there years ago). Chokecherries grow wild around here. Every year I pick and freeze LOTS of blackberries, for eating during the winter months. I also pick plenty of black currants, elderberries, and chokecherries, but most of those go into making wine. We have been making chokecherry wine for 10+ years now, and it's one of our better wines. In recent years we have been making wine with blends of the other fruit also........right now I have 10 gallons of blended elderberries/black currants/blackberries in the fermenter, and I think that is going to make very good wine also. We make dry wines, so there is no residual sugar.

I always freeze some elderberries and save them for eating during cold/flu season. Black elderberries contain anti-viral compounds, and if you eat them at the first sign of cold or flu, you can often lessen the severity/duration of the illness. I've tried it, and it does work.

We also have grape vines, and make a decent concord grape wine too.......

Interesting because that is going to be my next venture is chokecherry wine making. I have so many chokecherry trees I could start a business. Lol
I like that wine very much.

 

[harley]

I was camping one year and found a large blackberry thicket while I was hiking. I ate a bunch, then walked back to the tent to get a pot or something to put more in. When I got back there was a black bear standing in the middle of the thicket stuffing it's face. I decided he/she needed them more than I did, and slipped quietly away. I aaproach wild berries more carefully now.

 

[Winemaker]

Interesting because that is going to be my next venture is chokecherry wine making. I have so many chokecherry trees I could start a business. Lol
I like that wine very much.

Berries are very low in fermentable sugar, so you may have to add sugar to the must for something for the yeast to eat. I make several gallons of berry wine, we have some wild blackberries, wild black raspberries and bush blueberries that grow in the yard. I can get more of the same at my sportsman club.

I never made chokecherry wine, but some fruits have natural yeast inhibitors. I have to be careful when I make my cranberry wine using real cranberries. They contains benzoate which is a natural preservative. A lot of fruit wine is grape wine flavored with fruit.

Also, real fruit wine, if not consumed within a year, begins to drop out precipitate. Not at all harmful, but can look disgusting; I'll run older fruit wine through a coffee filter even though it went through a 0.5 or 1 micron filter when I bottled it.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

I found some wild strawberries many years ago in northern Michigan. They aren't common, but man are they packed with flavor!

 

[RAE]

Berries are very low in fermentable sugar, so you may have to add sugar to the must for something for the yeast to eat. I make several gallons of berry wine, we have some wild blackberries, wild black raspberries and bush blueberries that grow in the yard. I can get more of the same at my sportsman club.

I never made chokecherry wine, but some fruits have natural yeast inhibitors. I have to be careful when I make my cranberry wine using real cranberries. They contains benzoate which is a natural preservative. A lot of fruit wine is grape wine flavored with fruit.

Yes, we need to add sugar to all of our fruit wines for the yeast to have enough to eat. But all the sugar ferments out eventually, so the end result is a dry wine. I have not noticed that the chokecherries are any more difficult to ferment than the other fruits I mentioned. We just add a packet of wine yeast to get things started, and it has always fermented well. We've had our fruit wines on the wine rack for several years without a lot of precipitates forming in the bottles, but maybe that's because we rack it several times before bottling, until things are perfectly clear.

 

[street]

Thanks for that information about adding sugar. I will do some research and know a guy that will help me through the processes.

 

[ERD50]

Interesting because that is going to be my next venture is chokecherry wine making. I have so many chokecherry trees I could start a business. Lol
I like that wine very much.

For a starter, you might want to just try making a liqueur/cordial. You'd need to look it up, bu I don't think it involves much more than soaking the fruit in brandy or vodka, maybe adding some sugar to taste?

A friend of DW's would give us a bottle of home made plum brandy each year, I never did get the recipe though.

-ERD50

 

[street]

ERD50 >>> Thanks and I will look into that.

 

[FIREd]

As a kid I used to go pick wild raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. My dad made brandy with them, my mom made jams and jellies. Wild strawberries were just for snacking.

 

[Winemaker]

Yes, we need to add sugar to all of our fruit wines for the yeast to have enough to eat. But all the sugar ferments out eventually, so the end result is a dry wine. I have not noticed that the chokecherries are any more difficult to ferment than the other fruits I mentioned. We just add a packet of wine yeast to get things started, and it has always fermented well. We've had our fruit wines on the wine rack for several years without a lot of precipitates forming in the bottles, but maybe that's because we rack it several times before bottling, until things are perfectly clear.

It also depends your storage temperature and on the water you may be using in your must/mix. Water contains a lot of stuff that is local, but not harmful. I use tap water that has been "aged" to allow any chlorine or chlorine-related items to evaporate. I used to use RO water but it lacks some minerals that yeast might want during fermentation.

To see how much precipitate might drop out of your water, make a quart of unsweetened tea, and let it stand overnight. You'll be surprised at the amount of gunk that drops out.

I concur racking several times does help with clarification, but it only takes out gravity influenced particles.