Berries and cherries...

Growing and Foraging...

A short post this week about all the cherries/berries we have collected this summer.  The season started the end of June with red raspberries and then golden raspberries ripening.  We have some bushes right in our yard so these were easy to pick.  Next, our tart cherry tree started to produce.  Last year, I collected 2 cups of cherries.  This year, I got 2 gallons!  Also, a friend of mine said I could glean some off her tree so I ended up picking about 14 more pounds of cherries off her tree.  I made cherry pie filling which was a new venture for me...super easy and delicious!

I didn't really keep track of the raspberries that I got.  I got about a gallon of the golden raspberries and I would guess 3-4 gallons of red raspberries.  Then, in mid-July the wild blackberries started to ripen.  The boys and I like to go to Boyer Dam in the swimming area each summer so the boys can play in the water while I pick blackberries.  I picked about 23 pounds of blackberries.

Just as the blackberries started, the huckleberries were also beginning to ripen.  They are a little bit more challenging to get because I drive about 1 hour 30 minutes to the top of a mountain to pick.  We picked for 4 Sundays (a new record for us...).  Anyway, we ended up with 22.5 pounds of huckleberries.  I was talking to a guy at the Farmer's Market that sells huckleberries for $40/gallon.  He said that 1 gallon weighs approximately 5.7 pounds.

So, it has been a "fruitful" summer...pun intended.  This is the most fruit we have collected by far.  I already made a cherry pie and it was delicious.  Also, I used some of the leftover huckleberry jam to make ice cream and it was AMAZING!