Whether marooned god-knows-where or were separated from your herd during a hiking or camping trip, a working knowledge of edible wild berries is never a bad thing. Let’s check out a mere few of the wild berries that will help sustain you if lost:
Strawberries
Wild strawberries are much smaller than those you find at the farmer’s market, but plenty sweet. A member of the Rose family along with blueberries and blackberries, wild strawberries are easy to identify and are found in creeper form along the ground.
Raspberries
Leaves appear in threes on the raspberry, a fruit hollow on the inside. They come in yellow, black, orange and red hues, and on bushes.
Wild Rose
Also called rosehips, these berries are red and oval. An excellent source of vitamin C, wild rose berries are found on….wait for it…wild rose bushes!
Gooseberries
Frequently used in fruit pies, gooseberries come in a number of colors, including pink, green, white, red and yellow. Some appear almost translucent with lines or “veins” running up and down each berry.
Sea Buckthorn
While most berries are harvested during the summer, the Sea Buckthorn is an orange-yellow berry in season throughout the winter. As the name implies, this berry appears along the coastline.
Foraging Tips
Berries appear on either bushes or creeping vines, so look to the ground and for bushes up to eye-level height. Low trees should also be examined. High-growing fruiting trees tend to attract high-flying birds such as blue jays, while low-growing fruiting bushes are attractive to birds who love underbrush, such as warblers.
Natural meadows are good forging spots, as are river and pond margins, country roads and lanes, overgrown farms, and coastlines.
Unfortunately most wild fruit looks disturbingly similar to its poisonous counterpart, so stick with bush versions while still a foraging “newbie.” Avoid areas sprayed with herbicide, and never, ever eat a berry if unsure about edibility!
Have you ever foraged for wild berries? Share your tips in the comments section!