Fruits of the forrest

[SGL70]

Picking berries is, to me, a mixed bag. Blueberrys (in larger amounts) is a no-go...Lingonberries on the other hand, is rather fun to pick. You get large amounts in a hurry, in a normal year. This year, one of my 8-year-olds came along...and to my astonishment picked 'em as fast as I

Cleaning lingonberries is cathartic.....for all of five minutes, when it transforms into a mind-numbing tedium. Tastes good though.



Cheers,
Greger

 

[Janne]

That is a good catch!
What will you do with them, boiled jam, raw jam or cordial ( saft)?

Fantastic berries, lingonberries... good to most meats, fish and even adult flavoured crepes!

Enjoy!

 

[Greenbeard]

Those berries look great! Never tasted lingonberries, what do they taste like? Makes me want to move to Sweden haha, about fed up with the blackberries over here.

 

[SGL70]

We managed to get 30 liters of the red stuff, so cleaning it will be a test...10 down, 20 to go...

How to describe the taste...well a bit sour, I'd say...hahaha...I am at a loss for words really...can't even describe it in Swedish...hahahaha...@Janne (or any other fellow Swede), could you help out?!

I will make jam out of the lot, I think. I often add vanilla sugar and cinnamon for flavour (besides normal sugar)

Greger

 

[Janne]

Happy to help!

Raw, taste is quite similar to raw Cranberries ( which in fact are Tranbär in Swedish) but juicier and I would say much more flavoursome.
When made into jam, the trad Lingonberry jam is less sweet than trad Cranberry jam.
Also we like to add a stick or Cinnamon, or some Cloves.
A raw jam, boilles, is possible due to the high level of preserving acid.

I have tried it with Cranberries but failed, this needs to be boiled.

 

[Greenbeard]

Interesting! I prefer fruit to be on the sharper side, though cranberry jam over here is really sweet, that's why all our teeth are falling out! If it's quite acidic would it make good wine? I like the idea of adding spices, I made some damson and apple gin today and was thinking about adding a cinnamon stick and star annise to the mix

 

[SGL70]

Greenbeard - PM me your adress, and I ship a jar your way (when I make a successful batch - the berries are made to jam as needed, mind you)

Greger

 

[Robson Valley]

Here is a berry cleaning process, taught to me by my elders a very long time ago.

Picking Saskatoon berries is a very rough process of just stripping the bush and cleaning later.
I have some good patches to collect 5 lbs/hour. Bend the bush over, strip over a tarp, let go, do the next bush.

You need a fuzzy old blanket and 2 poles.
Drape the blanket over the poles to make a tilted Vee shape trough.
Clean empty bucket at the bottom.
Slowly pour the berries across the top.
All the twigs, stems, leaves, ants, caterpillars, etc stick to the blanket and the cleaned berries roll to the bottom.

 

[SGL70]

Your proposal would clean some of it, but not sure about the lingonberry stems (the are often clustered like grapes). The loose stuff would be cleaned away, though

 

[Janne]

What is next, Cloudberry picking?
( hjortron)

 

[SGL70]

I think it is late in the cloudberry season. Even too late, from what I've seen.

I sometimes go pick them, but I normally leave the eating to others...One of a few personal shortcomings

 

[Robson Valley]

True about multiple stems. Some Amelanchier (Saskatoon/Service Berry) grow like that, I try to separate the fruits first.
That's by far and away the dominant berry bushes out in the open. Under the forest canopy, Vaccinium blue berries (3 species).
We have others like Crataegus hawthorn and 2 native species of Sorbus (your Rowan) but with the choice, nobody bothers.
If you can brave the microscopic prickles, I can show you some big Hazel nut bushes.

The blanket cleaning method is Plains Cree, 150+ years old.
Did you know that shotgun pellets are actually dried Saskatoon berries?

 

[Janne]

This year Lofoten had an incredibly late summer. We were there last week in June and furst wek in July ( I think) and the crowberies, billberries, åkerbär and cloudberries did just start to flower.

Maybe they will not mature there.
Yes, you either love cloudberries or hate them. I like a 50/50 mix of them and billberries (blåbär) best.

I tried the Saskatoon berry jam once.
More seeds than jam