North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[tanis cuff <tanistanis@hotmail.com>]

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