Blackberry Picking with Baby

Blackberry picking is one of our little family unit's summer highlights. Every August here in the Pacific Northwest, like it or not, these purple jewels take over the landscape. To some, they are noxious weeds to be obliterated, to others it is foraging at its finest. Every year Ryan and I brave their thorny defenses to pick several pounds of delicious blackberries. To eat, to freeze, to make our one year supply of jam, to fold into crepes, pies and crisps, to toss into breakfast cereal, to whizz into assorted beverages, and to do whatever else we like with them. One year, I discovered that if I made a sort of syrup out of them, I had the makings for a wonderfully summery (but completely unconventional) Blackberry Vodka Martini. So.much.flavor.

This year, with a nine-month-old in tow, it gets trickier. Since Johann was born we've continued doing the things we enjoy, and venturing out into the brush for berry picking is no different. (So far this year we've already foraged and enjoyed several different berries including salmonberries, red huckleberries, and thimbleberries.) With Ryan's help, it's relatively easy. One of us back-carries him in the Ergo, and aims for the easiest picking, while the other one dons long pants and boldly goes forth into the brush. Easy. So, I thought, why not try going on my own and just head for the easy picking?

So last week, I front-carried Johann (I cannot yet strap him onto my back without help) and we ventured out alone. We got in thirty minutes of picking before before nap time hit. Isn't this the sweetest grumpy face, you've ever seen?

We made it out alive, relatively unscathed, armed with two pounds of ripe blackberries. Not bad for a short time and a few extra challenges.    

I've learned now that blackberry picking with a baby strapped to your chest presents several challenges.

One: you have to go where the blackberries are, which usually means off the trails and into full sun where the best berries (and the thorniest brambles, unfortunately) reside.

Two: you have to pass up several obvious precious clusters of ripe fruit, they're now out of reach because of the much more precious baby strapped to your chest.

Three: not only do you have to try a little harder to keep your balance, and stay away from the thorns, you also have to keep your baby from reaching out and grabbing thorny leaves and branches! Oye. There were tears.

Bottom line. It takes time and effort, and maybe some pain if you get stuck by thorns, but there is good fruit out there for the picking, it is free, all natural, and we take advantage.

And, at the end of the day, with the baby unit, blackberry picking is so much easier with the help of another. So we plan to carry on this family foraging tradition, and raise Johann to find joy in free and delicious fruit. But next time, I'll bring the dad unit!

Foraging: Red Huckleberries!

Red Huckleberries are slowly starting to ripen in our area. Red Huckleberries, while abundant in the Pacific Northwest, are a pain to pick because the berries are tiny and the entire bush moves when you pluck just one. But the effort is well worth the reward. We only learned about these babies in the middle of its season last summer, but are ahead of the game this year so will be taking full advantage of the entire picking season!

We enjoy eating these little red gems just plain on cereal, granola, or sprinkled into salads. But local experts have many more clever recipes that use red huckleberries. The berries are a bit on the tart side, but juicy and slightly sweet, making it perfect for jams as well. And, boy, are they delicious any way you eat them!  

Unable to wait a minute longer, we picked a modest 4 oz. at the park down the street from our house last night in the last few minutes of sunset, deciding to save more serious picking for the next few weekends. If we can get to them before the bears do! 

Foraging: Stinging Nettles

Since moving to the state of Washington, I have been swept away by the foraging possibilities - both abundant and nearby. I have been devouring all kinds of information on the subject, learning about different things to look for by season. Winter is over here in the Pacific North West, and that means yummy stinging nettles are in their prime.

Stinging nettles - which lose their "sting" after being cooked for one minute - are easy to identify, and deliciously yummy. They remind me of spinach, but maybe a bit woodsier. I now substitute them for pretty much any dark leafy green veggie in recipes. Not only are stinging nettles pesticide-free gifts of nature, but according to my research, they are also a nutritional powerhouse, chock full of all the dark-leafy-green veggie benefits including iron, calcium, and folic acid.

In early spring, we donned long sleeves and pants, gloves, and boots, and ventured down to the nearest trails to pick our first lot. A modest half grocery bag's worth.

Never having cooked with Stinging Nettles before, I wanted to tread lightly. Even my husband (who generally does not get as excited about food) was all too eager to help me pick them, probably in large part for the fact that he got to jump into the weedy shrubs, thorns and brambles and be a little boy again. And we had two other adorable helpers.

You are supposed to harvest only the top two or three bracts of the plant while they're still young, so they have a chance to keep growing (at which point you can go back and pick more yumminess!) and snip off the leaves to cook with.

Unable to avoid curiosity, we cooked up that first batch immediately. Oh.So.Tasty! You cook them for a minute (which will disable the sting), then however your recipe calls for your leafy greens to be cooked.

It cooks down almost exactly like spinach, in the fact that it loses as much water.

Since then, we have gone back again and again and have picked many more bags full. Boy-oh-boy we have discovered a whole new world and have had so much fun experimenting with it in different dishes. Stinging nettle and garlic homemade deep dish stuffed crust pizza, anyone?

Or, simply tossed into boring old spaghetti sauce? Or, perhaps a semi-foraged version of delicious Indian Palak Paneer? The possibilities are endless. Thank God for these simple delights of nature.

Salmonberry Salad

The simple joys.  Picking delicate baby greens from the garden.  Tossing in bright ripe salmonberries picked mere minutes ago.  Dotting with olive oil, and freshly cracked black pepper.

The result: a simple, joyful salmonberry salad.  Happy Saturday, everyone!

Foraging: Salmonberries!

foraging:  the acquisition of food by hunting, fishing, or the gathering of plant matter.


I've been reading about foraging lately.  It's a new love.  So far our foraging has been limited to picking berries. Still, a whole new world of food possibilities has opened up!  And it's all free, that F word I really love.  Last year we picked blackberries.  This year, we have a new find:  salmonberries.

The salmonberry is another edible fruit native to the state of Washington.  The seem perfectly good to eat plain when ripe, or cooked up.  We made Salmonberry Tarts two weeks ago.  Last week we ate them in crêpes for breakfast.  Naturally sweet, a bit tart, full of good fruity yummyness.

Salmonberry Crêpes

 

Oh yes, sweet little salmonberries, we will be back to pick more of you in the coming weeks, before you disappear.  Until next June! 

Wild Mint Growing In Our Backyard!

We stumbled upon several wild mint plants while strolling through our back yard over the weekend. There it was, happily growing out of the compost pile that the previous homeowners had left behind in a corner of our backyard. Fresh mint...in our own backyard. That's RIGHT! And in case you didn't catch what excites me most about this discovery - it is FREE. Yippee! I was already daydreaming about fresh mint tea with when two things occurred to me. First, that I had just depressed myself not even one week ago because mint was the only herb I had not started indoors or bought. Second, this little baby is going to come back next year and every year after that. I couldn't help but wonder, was the timing of this just a coincidence? God's gifts are truly wonderful. Even the tiny little "minty" ones, wouldn't you agree?

Anyway, the inaugural concoction using our unexpected gift from the ground:  fresh mint tea. Simple, fragrant, and warms the bones. I love it. For one serving, add 8 - 10 oz boiling water to 1 scant teaspoon green (or jasmine) tea leaves, and drop in a couple teaspoons worth of mint leaves lightly bruised between your fingers. Let steep for as many minutes as it suits you. Oh-so-good. Enjoy!

Now doesn't this look very warming? So. What will we do next with our minty bounty?  Maybe Mojitos!