Berry Madness

[rachelmanija]

When my last Native Foods Nursery order arrives and is planted, I will have nine types of berries growing on my land: strawberries, blackberries (wild), raspberries (wild and cultivated), blueberries, golden currants, salmonberries, thimbleberries, salal berries, and honeyberries/haskaps.

I have never tried the latter five - please comment if you have! - and in fact only learned about them on the website. But since I've only ever encountered one berry I really dislike, I have high hopes. Except for the salal berries, which are mostly for the birds.)

Poll #26912

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 105

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I have eaten these berries FRESH (pies, sauce, jam, & dried doesn't count unless stated otherwise. You may mention that in comments though.)

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Strawberries
105 (100.0%)

Blueberries
103 (98.1%)

Raspberries
103 (98.1%)

Blackberries
101 (96.2%)

Mulberries
51 (48.6%)

Lingonberries
22 (21.0%)

Cranberries
58 (55.2%)

Boysenberries
31 (29.5%)

Cloudberries
16 (15.2%)

Currants (state color in comments)
50 (47.6%)

Serviceberries
12 (11.4%)

Honeyberries/Haskaps
7 (6.7%)

Salal berries
4 (3.8%)

Gooseberries (non-fresh counts)
51 (48.6%)

Elderberries (non-fresh counts)
34 (32.4%)

Huckleberries
25 (23.8%)

Thimbleberries
9 (8.6%)

Salmonberries
17 (16.2%)

Marionberries/ollalieberries/similar crosses
23 (21.9%)

Maypop
0 (0.0%)

Jambutica
2 (1.9%)

Other berry I will mention in comments
12 (11.4%)

Acai (okay I GUESS bowls count)
13 (12.4%)

My favorite berries are...

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Strawberries
52 (53.6%)

Blueberries
42 (43.3%)

Raspberries
62 (63.9%)

Blackberries
39 (40.2%)

Mulberries
10 (10.3%)

Lingonberries
7 (7.2%)

Cranberries
16 (16.5%)

Boysenberries
4 (4.1%)

Cloudberries
4 (4.1%)

Red currants
16 (16.5%)

White currants
1 (1.0%)

Golden currants
2 (2.1%)

Black currants
16 (16.5%)

Serviceberries
1 (1.0%)

Honeyberries/Haskaps
1 (1.0%)

Salal berries
0 (0.0%)

Gooseberries
9 (9.3%)

Huckleberries
6 (6.2%)

Thimbleberries
1 (1.0%)

Salmonberries
3 (3.1%)

Marionberries
10 (10.3%)

Ollallieberries
1 (1.0%)

Maypop
0 (0.0%)

Jambutica
0 (0.0%)

Other berry I will state in comments
2 (2.1%)

Acai (okay I GUESS bowls count)
0 (0.0%)

I HATE this berry!

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Strawberries
3 (6.5%)

Blueberries
3 (6.5%)

Raspberries
3 (6.5%)

Blackberries
4 (8.7%)

Mulberries
2 (4.3%)

Lingonberries
1 (2.2%)

Cranberries
3 (6.5%)

Acai (the berry)
3 (6.5%)

Acai (the trend)
25 (54.3%)

Boysenberries
0 (0.0%)

Cloudberries
0 (0.0%)

Red currants
4 (8.7%)

White currants
2 (4.3%)

Black currants
4 (8.7%)

Golden currants
3 (6.5%)

Serviceberries
0 (0.0%)

Honeyberries/Haskaps
0 (0.0%)

Salal berries
1 (2.2%)

Gooseberries
3 (6.5%)

Huckleberries
0 (0.0%)

Thimbleberries
0 (0.0%)

Salmonberries
0 (0.0%)

Marionberries
0 (0.0%)

Ollalieberries
0 (0.0%)

Maypop
0 (0.0%)

Jambutica
0 (0.0%)

Other berry I will state in comments
3 (6.5%)

Comments

[ratcreature]

I've eaten both red and black currants raw. I only tried cranberry raw once because I was curious, but don't care to repeat it. And I actually didn't know anyone ate lingonberry raw, I've only ever seen that as a preserve.

I like the small wild blueberries that are blue throughout more than the big cultivated blueberries that are not blue inside, but the former are really expensive and supermarkets rarely have them. I'm not sure whether they actually go by a different name in English, they might be what's called "bilberry"? Both are called Blaubeeren in my area of Germany. I think the cultivated ones are from an American species, the completely blue ones European. The tiny wild European strawberries are really good too, but also not easy to buy.

[rachelmanija]

I don't think anyone does eat raw lingonberries! I just forgot to specify that prepared counts with them.

I know what you mean with blueberries. The all-blue ones are much better.

[ratcreature]

Sea buckthorn is another one that is great in preserves, but nobody eats raw, I don't think.

My brother has a blueberry bush in his garden (the all blue kind), but never manages to defend it sufficiently against birds and squirrels to reap any significant benefits, certainly not enough berries to share some with me. They all get eaten as soon as they start to ripen. He tried a bird net once, but birds still ate the berries, only a squirrel gruesomely strangled itself, so he gave up on that. :/

Same with the serviceberry in his garden (I just now learned this word as I looked up all the unfamiliar English berry names to see whether they matched with familiar fruit, it's called Felsenbirne, literally "rock pear" in German). I'm actually not sure he even tries with that one. I thought it was just ornamental and meant for birds, because he doesn't complain about loosing those like about the blueberries, and it's not a fruit in stores. But Wikipedia says they are good, so I guess we are missing out. The birds are certainly very into them.

[azdak]

The Estonians make an absolutely delicious non-sweet fizzy drink with sea buckthorn. If I were at all entrepreneurial, I would export it and make a fortune selling it to trendy bars and restaurants.

[rachelmanija]

Now I really want this.

[ratcreature]

Sea buckthorn juice is fairly common in Germany as well. It is believed to have all sort of health benefits, so all the organic food stores sell it at high prices, like 7€ a bottle or such. It's also used in cocktails, though not being a cocktail person I'm not sure whether that is with the juice or some kind of liquor made from the berries.

[rachelmanija]

Nooooo. Well, I will be very careful when I put up bird netting.

[ratcreature]

Fingers crossed that you'll have more success securing your berries. Or at least retain a share. Without unintended casualties.

[luzula]

I totally eat raw lingonberries! I like them.

[sholio]

You can eat lingonberries raw! (They grow all over around here; locally they're called lowbush cranberry.) I don't usually eat them by themselves, because they're fairly sour/bitter, but they're pretty nice on cereal.

[carbonel]

Costco sells frozen wild blueberries. They're smaller than the usual ones, and might be the kind you're talking about. Very tasty, in any case.

[ratcreature]

Could be. Here I sometimes see canned "forest blueberries" with fruits advertised as from Canada that seem to be the same berry, at least as far as you can tell from preserved ones. Do maybe they also freeze them in North America. They are smaller and dark blue throughout, including the flesh, rather than that being light as with the larger cultivated American blueberry, which aside from the often more intense taste is really the main difference. If you eat them fresh in milk or cream they stain that very violet if you squish them.

When I was little they used to be easier to buy fresh, at least my mom just got them from the grocery store, not some farmer's market or anything. But then Chernobyl happened and they were all contaminated for a while or something, and I think just like wild mushrooms it never fully recovered. I don't remember having them regularly anymore as an older teenager. (That may also be why the glasses with the canned ones put "Canada" so visible on their label, so that people don't worry they might get stuff from radioactive forests just because they are called "forest" blueberry to set them apart.)