Summer Harvest
By Jim Swanson, Outdoor Columnist
Monday, July 14, 2008 8:44 AM CDT
I was slowly moving through the woods looking for a sign.
I had seen a few traces of my quarry but had failed to find it yet. I moved deeper into the woods. The area had been logged recently, and it was regrowing.
The target of my hunt favored this habitat, so it should not be long before I located it. I walked down a game trail, worked my way through a patch of prickly ash and stopped. In front of me was the biggest patch of blackberries I have ever seen.
The hunt was over, and it was time to start picking. There is a wide variety of plants that can be harvested in the summer. July and August are particularly good months for berrying.
Raspberries and blackberries are the most commonly-gathered woodland fruits. Raspberries have a red dome shaped fruit and grow on a vine like stalk. Leaves are large, compound and palmated. Blackberries or blackcaps are a more oblong berry and they too grow on single vine stems (also called canes). They tend to grow in colonies and to get very thick. The shoots, stems, or whatever are full of thorns.
Since berries often grow in thick patches, it can be very difficult to get to the berries sometimes and you just plan on losing a bit of skin when picking. They like recently disturbed areas on the edges of woodlands, or semi-open woods. Wearing a light long-sleeved shirt and long pants is a good idea to protect yourself from the thorns and other nasties in the woods. Nettles, poison ivy and prickly ash all seem to like to grow near the berries in the deep woods. Fortunately, berries can also be found in less difficult habitats. One can be a hard core gatherer who likes to gather enough to freeze, make jam and pies. Or one can take the kids out for a stroll through the woods and have a walking snack. Hoffman Hills is a well-known berrying destination. The berry crop this year should be greatly improved from the last two years and should be ripe in two or three weeks.
Gooseberries are more bush-like but have the same thorn-filled stems as raspberries. Gooseberries grow in the middle of woodlots rather than the edges. The fruit grows underneath the leaves, which sort of resemble oak leaves-but much smaller. A ripe gooseberry is purple in color. Gooseberries tend to ripen a bit before the raspberries and blackberries. They make an excellent pie.
Wild grapes are another common vine that provide many eating options. The leaves are heart shaped with a serrated edge. The vines usually climb up on trees or shrubs. The leaves can be used fresh or dried for later use. A favorite dish from the Greek cuisine is stuffed grape leaves. The grapes will be ripe late in the summer and can be made into jelly.
Nettles are both annoying and good to eat. There are two types of nettles in this area-the stinging nettle and the wood nettle. The stinging nettle can grow to about five feet tall and the wood nettle is two to three feet tall. The leaves of the stinging nettle are longer and narrower with toothed edges while the wood nettle is more heart shaped with small serration on the edges of the leaves.
Of course, if you touch the wrong part of the nettle, the plant will sting you. The key to picking nettle is to not touch the underside of the leaf or the plant stem. On a positive note, the nettle leaf will cure the sting.
To cure the sting, pinch the top of the leaf with your thumb and fore finger so the bottom of the leaf folds together. Pluck the leave from the plant. Next, fold the leaf several times, being careful not to expose the underside of the leaf. Vigorously rub the folded leaf over the sting so that the green rubs off onto the skin. This should cure the nettle sting. Nettles can be cooked and served like spinach.
Cattails are all-purpose plants. The seed pods at the top of the plants can be eaten like corn on the cob and the roots can be eaten like potatoes or dried and made into flour. The shoots can be eaten in the spring. Since cattails grow in marshes, plan on getting wet and muddy when harvesting them.
Not for consumption
Some plants are not edible but have useful purpose.
Jewel Weed, (also called Touch-me not) is one such plant. It grows three to four feet tall in moist areas and is a translucent green color. The leaves are oval with orange or yellow flowers. The branches and leaves of this plant spread out instead of clustering together. The juice from this plant will cure the rash of poison ivy.
Prickly ash is one of my least favorite plants. It has big thorns and grows in dense clusters just about everywhere The bark is a mottled white to gray, and the trunk is usually about one inch in diameter. Prickly ash averages seven feet in height. It seems to delight in taking the hat off your head and the skin from your hand and arms. Prickly ash’s only redeeming feature is that the bark of the tree is a mild pain killer. Native Americans and the pioneers used the bark to cure toothache and rheumatism. The bark can be made into either a tea or poultice.
Very little equipment is needed to gather wild plants in the summer.
If you want to gather large quantities, a basket that hangs over your shoulder or from a belt is helpful. I made mine out a medium-sized flower pot, boot laces and lawn chair webbing. I drilled two holes in the pot and tied the boot lace to the pot and the webbing. The basket has served me well for many years. Berry baskets are also available commercially.
Bug spray and water are about the only other items one should take. Both woodland and prairie wild flowers are in full bloom right now which adds to the enjoyment of berry picking.
A few good resources for learning which plants to pick and which to leave alone are Edible & Medicinal Wild Plants of Minnesota & Wisconsin by Matthew Alfs; Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons; and Whatchagot Stew: A Memoir of an Idaho Childhood With Recipes and Commentaries by Patrick McManus and Patricia McManus Gass. |
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