My time honored favorite is chokecherries, but I have recently discovered elderberries and wild plums. (We won't consider the mulberries to be foraged, since we owned the land.)
Unfortunately these days many children grow up only recognizing fruit if it is in the grocery store.
It’s such a shame, to never go home with tummy ache from eating too much wild fruit
and with berry stained hands and clothes from a fun family outing in early fall.
Half the fun is "sneaking" the fruit, because you are not sure if you are allowed to be picking where you are picking. Believe me, the kids will beg to go back each year.
Just a few unwritten, common sense rules to remember when you are out foraging:
Wild fruit also feeds wildlife so never take all the fruit from a bush or tree.
Only take what you need and leave some fruit to ripen for other foragers.
Don’t break branches just to get at that juicy fat berry at the top.
And, in honor of Rylee, don't climb trees you can't easily get down from, hence spilling your hard work on the ground in the attempt.
Elderberries
One of these days I will learn to make wine.
Wild plums after just a few minutes of boiling.
Aren't they beautiful?
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