Hunting, gathering
Picked about three quarts of blackberries from the bramble across the street today. The nemesis of residents of the PNW, the Himalayan blackberry. Invasive species! It is ugly. It outcompetes all native species. You almost can't kill it and can barely control it. Birds don't even seem to eat the fruit, despite the vast bounty. I love blackberries, the fruit. I like when harvesting food is work (an opinion sponsored by my citizenship and date of birth). The Himalayan blackberry makes you really work for it. Sometimes you can't tell if it's berry blood or your blood, dripping down your arm.
Then I picked about a half pint of red huckleberries at the park at the end of the street. I'll make huckleberry pancakes for breakfast. I love red huckleberries and would LOVE to have them in the yard. I like black huckleberries even better but have not seen any in our area. I found a couple edible salal berries, but they are mostly dried on the vine and hard.
Picking huckleberries is so easy compared to blackberries. The huckleberry does *not* make you work for it, so I was barely looking and I pulled my hand back out of a short tree with a wasp on my ring finger. It was just walking along, sort of wondering what it had landed on. It frightened me, so I shook it off somewhat violently, I'm afraid. It didn't sting me or act aggressively at all. It was a reflex. Then I found a giant black and yellow caterpillar with white spikes at both ends. Pretty, but probably a nuisance.
Then I picked about a half pint of red huckleberries at the park at the end of the street. I'll make huckleberry pancakes for breakfast. I love red huckleberries and would LOVE to have them in the yard. I like black huckleberries even better but have not seen any in our area. I found a couple edible salal berries, but they are mostly dried on the vine and hard.
Picking huckleberries is so easy compared to blackberries. The huckleberry does *not* make you work for it, so I was barely looking and I pulled my hand back out of a short tree with a wasp on my ring finger. It was just walking along, sort of wondering what it had landed on. It frightened me, so I shook it off somewhat violently, I'm afraid. It didn't sting me or act aggressively at all. It was a reflex. Then I found a giant black and yellow caterpillar with white spikes at both ends. Pretty, but probably a nuisance.