How about a berry thread

[carole]

It's that time of year to snack your way along the trail.

So many blueberries (or are they huckleberries, farkleberries, bilberries, whortleberries...??)

lowbush blue blueberries (vaccinium angustifolium)


lowbush black blueberries (vaccinium angustifolium)


june berries (amelanchier laevis)

 

[rocket21]

There are some blueberries mixed in with the last photo.

I had the trifecta last night - a hike, a sunset, and fresh blueberries! Thank you Foss Mountain!

 

[sardog1]

Berry Wars, Part 1: Stinkin' turkeys were in one of "my" blueberry patches the other day. They were very reluctant to leave -- the dog almost caught one, and another gobbler held tight nearby until I was a scant ten yards from it. (For turkeys, that borders on the suicidal.) I brought home a short quart from the sunniest patch. Went back today to look around and decided to wait a couple more days before mounting a massive collection effort. This is the best wild blueberry crop I've seen in four years.

Berry Wars, Part 2: Stinkin' Rose-breasted Grosbeak was in "my" raspberry patch today when I got home. Couldn't decide whether to grab the video camera or gulp berries. Actually an easy choice in the end -- already have the bird on video from another occasion.

Bear-y Wars: Saw lots of sign this spring near the patches and heard a hearsay account of a cub in the vicinity. But no sign of the adult for the last few weeks. Hopin' he/she has a different favorite blueberry patch . . .

 

[Jasper]

Blue Berry Trail

The Blue Berries are in full force. Yesterday, coming down the Pompelly Trail off of Monadnock we stopped every so often and had our fill. This trail is lightly travelled (and poorly marked in places). What a great day.

 

[DrewKnight]

Strawberry Fields forever?

The second grade on Livermore Road ends in a big old clearing that, this year in particular, was over-run with beautiful little wild strawberries. A couple weeks back, I was huffing and puffing up the hill on my bike, wondering if the berries might be ripe and thinking it was worth hopping off to find out. At it turned out, I didn't have to. Just as I came into the clear, there was a monstrous bear-dook in the middle of the trail that clearly consisted of nothing but partially processed strawberries.

Mr. Bear did leave a few ripe little sweeties, and they were luscious.

 

[brianW]

When we lived in NH we had about a half acre of blueberry bushes. Besides the turkey and the neighborhood bear eating them, the local fox population liked the tasty berries. The fox liked to visit our chicken coop also Sorry for the fox I had to take care of the problem.

I guess when I am up visiting next week I'll have to hike Gap Mt to do some picking.

 

[Jason Berard]

Walker Brook Rd. off NH 118 is COVERED with wild strawberries along both sides of the road. Also saw these interspersed with the strawberries:

Any idea what they are? The plants were the same size as the strawberries, but the berries were the size of raspberries.....

 

[DrewKnight]

Jason, I would have guessed "Bunchberry" -- but the leaf doesn't look (not even close) like the one in my wife's Falcon Guide to North Woods Wild Flowers (the fruit match the description, though).

More on wild strawberries: the upper ski-slopes on Tecumseh were still in full fruit this afternoon. I snatched and ate a couple on my way down -- yum. An ambitious picker could still get a pailful at 3700 feet...

 

[sardog1]

Any idea what they are? The plants were the same size as the strawberries, but the berries were the size of raspberries.....

Dwarf raspberry Rubus pubescens

 

[Jason Berard]

cool! thanks sardog! I wish I'd known they were edible last weekend!
oh well....next year!

 

[Klutz]

Yep, we ate some blueberries out on our kayak ride this weekend our at Baxter Lake in NH. Just added to the day.

 

[sardog1]

Update on the local blueberry crop --

Picked five quarts last week in a couple hours. Could have come home with ten or fifteen if I had more time. Toward the end, a kind of mania seized me and I disengaged before I lost all control.

Yield: Six jars of preserves and two quart-sized freezer bags still left over from the two forays so far. (Wyman's of Maine makes very good reusable bags, in addition to their own excellent wild berries. ) The preserves set up very well and have a better-than-store-bought taste to them. Berries were not at peak flavor yet last week; I suspect they'll be better this week. Still no bears, but the coyotes have been pounding the blueberries pretty hard.

(And no, you didn't really expect a location tip, did you? )

 

[Mad Townie]

Update on the local blueberry crop -- (And no, you didn't really expect a location tip, did you? )

No . . . but how about your preserves technique?

 

[sardog1]

No . . . but how about your preserves technique?

Use "Sure-Jell" fruit pectin -- It's available at supermarkets and possibly other locales. Sure-Jell works for all kinds of jams and jellies, both cooked and uncooked. Follow the excellent instructions EXACTLY. (They'll remind you of the importance of doing this with an "EXACTLY" flag several times. ) Do NOT deviate from the instructions. For example, don't double up -- use one box for four quarts of blueberries and do another batch if you have more than four.

 

[Darl58]

I use the Certo for my jams/jellies, just preference choice. I've tried both and like the liquid.

Another tip passed down by my Grandmother, don't make jams/jellies on overcast rainy days, it'll probably not set up due to the humidity in the air...I've tried to ignore this once and had to agree, listen to my elders!

Following the exact directs is very important!!

 

[Puck]

Berry Wars, Part 2: Stinkin' Rose-breasted Grosbeak was in "my" raspberry patch today when I got home.

Only a berry afficianado would use that "adjective" to describe that bird. You are hard core.

 

[sardog1]

Only a berry afficianado would use that "adjective" to describe that bird. You are hard core.

First things first. I started eating berries when I was two or three years old; the bird watching came about two years later. (You can tell how far back the watching started by the fact that I didn't use the neologism "birding" . . . )

 

[peakbagger]

Another berry tip, to freeze berries (including Raspberries) lay them out on a cookie sheet in a thin layer, place in freezer until frozen then pour them in a freezer ziplock bag. This keeps the berries from clumping up and they pour out of the bag easily. If you plan to keep them for awhile in the freezer, double bag the berries in two ziplocks.

As for locations, Andover White Cap, puts all the berry photos over the last few days to shame.

 

[DougPaul]

As for locations, Andover White Cap, puts all the berry photos over the last few days to shame.

Puzzle Mtn this past weekend wasn't bad. Found 1 nice raspberry and zillions of blueberries, I ate the evidence of the former and Gail picked a half ziplock bag of the latter. We had fresh blueberries back at SK's for the next two days...

We did leave a few blueberries for others.

Doug

 

[sardog1]

Another berry tip, to freeze berries (including Raspberries) lay them out on a cookie sheet in a thin layer, place in freezer until frozen then pour them in a freezer ziplock bag. This keeps the berries from clumping up and they pour out of the bag easily. If you plan to keep them for awhile in the freezer, double bag the berries in two ziplocks.

A couple of additional tips. Once you've washed the berries, spread a paper towel on the cookie sheet first, roll the berries around on the towel to dry them, and then remove the towel before placing in the freezer. This will prevent moisture from freezing the berries to the sheet. And use a good freezer bag -- an ordinary sandwich-type bag or two won't protect from freezer burn.