[NAFEX] wild brambles & cherries

tanis cuff tanistanis at hotmail.com
Thu Dec 2 21:41:09 EST 2010



The 2 recent strings prompted me to go re-read Muffy Barrett's article in the Spring 2010 'Pomona' (vol.XLIII, #2), "Exploring Bluestem Farm: Wild Fruits".  That's one county away, across one river, and siltier soil than where I am.  Muffy describes well the poorer, overused farmland and the wild fruits which try to reclaim it.  I would debate only why she finds elderberry so appealing, and not the black cherries.  I would have written the opposite.  Different taste preferences?  Or do the 2 fruits develop different flavors in different soils?  I also like the wild grapes, which I agree ARE mostly wicked sour.  (But keep testing them, Muffy, as they are more variable from clone to clone than the others, except perhaps autumn olive.)

I also second her assessment of the available crop amounts and the time required to not only gather enough to process, but to scout potential harvests.  My parents managed this by my dad doing the scouting, my mom prepping the kitchen, then herding the kids (large family) out to harvest and then back inside for the hand-processing. When there was a particularly bountiful crop, neighbors & others would be invited to harvest what they could.  This is an idea for people who won't eat our nice fruit which is brought to them, but they might use fruit which they are brought to.  Kids who won't eat their veggies will often eat what they help grow in a school's garden.
 
tc, sWI, 10 degrees tonight, hoping I mulched well enough what needs it 		 	   		  


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