My Lucky Find
The Flavorful Tiny Berry
The Harvested Branch
Three hours Later, Three Quarts
Somewhere in my soul lies concealed a pioneer spirit. There are a few times of the year it emerges and takes over my mind and body. As a child of a very tender age I learned to appreciate morel mushrooms which grow wild in the month of early May. I tramped woods for hours to find these delicacies. I learned to make the Spring tonic of a Dendelion Salad cut befor the plant developes a bud or bloom. I have also picked wild raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. One of the labor-some delicacies is the elderberry. Today I tramped along a swampy ditch and briars to cut the elderberries from the tall bushes. My biggest fear was that I would slip on the steep bank and into the murky stagnant water in the deep ditch. I am so lucky I do not get poison ivy. I know that is the reason I was able to harvest the nice amount that I did. Snakes are another story
Check July 19 posting to see the elderberry blossom which was in bloom 5 weeks ago. My pie recipe appears April 12, 2008. Pictured are our California friends Pat and her husband Joe whose taste buds still had a lingering memory of elderberry pie he tasted in the midwest almost twenty-five years ago.
I found it interesting that two neighbor men who saw me stripping the elderberries on the patio asked what they were. One thought they looked like something used to make a good drink. Another said he thought they were bird and bear food. Neither knew they were edible. Oh what they have been missing.
3 comments:
I have fond memories of the elderberry you used to make for Dad~his favorite! I wasn't particulary fond of it (was it the tiny seeds or that it wasn't a really sweet berry)?? I bet my adult palate would like it. I have never seen it out in California.
Elderberries grow usually in areas that receive much rain. They seem to thrive more in climates like we had back in the midwest. Dad is anxious to have a slice of his favorite pie.
That's so interesting - I've never seen an elderberry!
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