This is some of the best of simple living.
We have gone blueberry picking twice and got 28 liters (over 7 gallons) of wild arctic blueberries. If you have eaten wild arctic blueberries, you know they are nothing like cultivated blueberries. The taste is infinitely better, stronger, sweeter.
And there is something so satisfying about foraging your own food. In this case, the un-official Finnish super food.
We have a saying about eating fresh berries: " It's like putting money in the bank". Because you know, it's only for a short while that we get fresh berries during the year. And they are so good for you, that it's like putting money in the bank, when you eat them.
So we eat bowls and bowls of fresh berries. Traditionally with milk. But also with crepes, and baked into a pie of course. Then we make jam and freeze the rest, for the winter.
The raspberry bushes in our garden are also producing a record amount this summer, likely because my husband has been taking such good care of them, watering, weeding, getting rid of snails, planting stray seedlings back into the designated area so that they don't get mulched by the lawn mower...
And soon the forest is red with lingonberries to pick, and then there are the red- and black berries in the garden, from which we make juice for the winter. I am tempted to go blueberry picking one more time, because there were lots and lots left still..
Berry picking feels important in the most basic sense. Like a miracle, you are procuring food for the family, totally for free, and simultaneously having a fun trip to the forest with the whole family.
Oh, and you can totally go berry picking in the forest with a three-year-old! We had some snacks for Indiana, and she ate those and just happily played imaginary play. It was easy to take part in her play by saying things like "mommy bear is gathering food for the winter" or something fitting to her current play.
I was happy in the forest, I am happy cleaning the berries, I am happy making crepes in the garden with the old Jotul cast iron pan I found here, and I am happy that the sauna is hot soon, and I am happy when I lay down at night in my cool sheets and listen to the rain pour down and drum the roof.
8 comments:
I have started to grow blueberries in my garden but as the bushes are still small I only had a handful of berries from each bush. Blueberry picking isn't big in the UK but there are plenty of farms that do pick your own raspberries and strawberries. I can't believe you can pick them wild, you're very lucky.
tuo on niin parasta että voi mennä metsään vaan marjastamaan ja sienestämään! minäkin olen pariin otteeseen käynyt lasten kanssa mustikoita hakemassa tänä kesänä ja vielä olis tarkoitus hakea lisää. viime talvenakin loppui kesken vaikka luulin keränneeni vaikka kuinka paljon...olenko ymmärtänyt oikein (ku mun kielitaito on niin huono) että olette muuttaneet? en ole heiniltäkään muistanut kysyä.
Kuulostaa niin mahtavalle, ymmärrän täysin tuon onnen. (Hienoa muuten kun uskallat olla iloinen ja onnellinen julkisesti. Joskus tuntuu että sitä ei saisi olla.) Marjojen ja sienten siivouspuuhissa on kyllä jotakin niin maagisen ihanaa, rauhaisaa ja tyydyttävää. Teillä on jo noin kypsiä vadelmia. Täällä ei vielä kun eilen niitä tutkailin.
Nomnom! Love blueberries but the ones we pick in Scandinavia taste waaay better than the ones from the shop, even if they are organic.
Blackberries are starting to get ripe ow in our yard. They do it better than my blueberrieplant, but I really hope to pick the 9 berries that are growing on it before the birds discover them!
Berrie-picking and jam making... :) makes me happy~~
mamauk: Yes, it's one of those things people here take for granted. And many are too lazy to go in the forest to pick ;) In Finland we have this thing called "every man's rights" which means that you can enter other people property and do certain things like forage, without asking for permission. Of course you can't camp at someone's back yard, but all the forests are free to use, with certain restrictions.
Mira: Jep, siis muutimme isäni luo, ensin väliaikaisesti vaan kun oli pakko lähteä asunnostamme, kun tajusimme että se on homeessa. Sitten vaan päätettiin jäädä (oli siitä ollut aikaisemminkin pohdintaa, että josko muuttaisimme tänne) kun viihdyttiin hyvin ja täällä oireilu helpotti.
Heini: Olisin vähän huono puolestapuhuja yksinkertaistamiselle ja minimalismille, jos vaan valittaisin ja olisin surkea koko ajan :) Eipä olisi kovin inspiroivaa.. Ja tämmöinen luksus niinkuin metsän marjat on ainakin Suomessa lähes jokaisen vapaasti saatavilla!
Valhalla: Yeah, a couple of friends living in continental Europe complain about not being able to get proper blueberries there. Those cultivated ones just have not much taste!
Blackberries is something we don't have.. those are so yummy! For some reason birds don't touch the raspberries, at least I have not noticed, but sometimes they do eat some of the red currants.
how wonderful! and such beautiful photographs. My "American Dream" was never to own a picket house in the suburbs, it was to have a huge raspberry bush (and of course a place that would let me know a huge raspberry bush). I have a balcony and have a few strawberries this year and they're a joy to pick. Next year I'll try planting raspberries.
Olisin kateellinen jos en olisi niin onnellinen sun puolesta. Ootte niin oikeassa sanonnassanne. Meilla sanotaan etta Health Is Wealth ja marjat puolestaan tietysti terveytta ;)
Oh, my mouth is watering! What fantastic photography to capture this wonderful gift! Even the steam coming off the crepes (or pancakes?) is amazing.
Thank you for sharing this wholesome harvest with us bloggers who do not have access to such treats right now!
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