Waiting for Wine Berries

June 9, 2012 by dorannrule

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Alongside the roads of Rockbridge County, Virginia there are prickly bushes of the most beautiful berries I have ever seen.

They are called Wine Berries, and by the time they are ripened for plucking (if the birds haven’t found them first and you haven’t devoured ’em as you pick), you can come up with bowls and bowls of jewel-like berries that literally sparkle in the sun.

Bowl of Beautiful Wine Berries

Obviously the little gems taste wonderful too – somewhere between a raspberry and something else, they are sweet-tart and totally addictive.

A MASSIVE PICKING PATCH

My friend, Peggy, discovered an enormous patch on the edge of her property and organized yearly Pickin’ Parties. Call me a coward, but in addition to my bucket, I carried a wooden spoon and a frying pan lid to make noise. Using the primitive method of banging on a stainless steel lid, I was the self-appointed protector of the group.

My goal? To warn away bears (who love berries) or snakes, or whatever else could be in competition with avaricious humans. Do you think snakes hear drums?

The event was always happily rewarding. I suppose you could make a Wine Berry pie or tart or turnover, but the berries were better savored “as is.” And who could wait long enough to bake them anyway?

WORSE THAN BEARS

Our harvest was so productive we would lay the berries out on cookie sheets, freeze, and store them in plastic baggies in the freezer. Voila! Delicious Vitamin C all winter! The trouble was, my grandchildren would visit and discover the stash. They were more dangerous than any bear because the berries would quickly disappear. Banging on pot lids did not help.

It’s a shame the lawn care guys accidentally mowed down Peggy’s Wine Berry patch. That leaves me wistfully gazing at roadsides in a dangerously distracting driving mode. I just passed a lovely patch this morning. Some time in July this stand should be ripe for the picking – that is, if I can beat the birds to them, and the bears, and the other human competitors. I fear I will look slightly ridiculous beating on my pot lids along the roads though.

Here’s the bush I have my eye on.

Premature Wine Berries

Posted in Country Food, The Land | Tagged berries, country life, country living, roadside picking, rural life, rural Virginia, wild food, Wine berries | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on June 9, 2012 at 3:34 am katecrimmins

Sounds like you should plant a patch in your yard! When I was younger, I used to pick them in a semi wooded area next to a well traveled road. Well, the well traveled road turned into a huge interstate and the berries were a casualty. I did plant some in a yard once but I moved before they really got going. I now have a raspberry patch that is wonderful if the Japanese beetles don’t get them first. I tried blueberries but the birds are usually quicker than I am. Berries are just special.

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on June 9, 2012 at 4:01 am apronheadlilly

That’s a shame about the lawn guys destroying the patch. Shame on them!

I remember lots of blueberry picking forays into the bush. I probably ate more than I put in the can. What I hated was the heat–I don’t do heat well. Mom solved that problem with a wet washcloth on her head. I was too vain. I never really thought about bears but probably should have, being the designated fearful one of the group.

When we lived in Georgia, I found a wild blackberry patch. Yum! Again, didn’t bring my pot lid. I have never heard of wine berries. They look yummy, though.

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on June 9, 2012 at 4:13 am dorannrule

I once tried to plant a patch but probably had the wrong exposure and the wrong terrain because nothing happened. Ah well. Maybe Peggy’s patch will return – in time. Lucky you with a raspberry patch! Stand guard against the beetles… would banging on pot lids help? Thans for stopping by Kate!

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on June 9, 2012 at 4:17 am dorannrule

I don’t do heat well either Lilly, but greed takes over when it comes to Wine Berries or any other kind of berry for that matter. Then I stagger home and into the shower to cool off and finally sit down with a bowl. Fortunately, my husband is not a great lover of berries. Only the grandkids are a threat.

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on June 9, 2012 at 5:37 am Coming East

This is the first time I’ve heard of wine berries, Dor. Some things grow better in the wild than when we try to cultivate the. Wild Maine blueberries are like that. Better than the big ones you get in the store. Hope you get your wine berries this summer.

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on June 9, 2012 at 6:19 am dorannrule

Hi Susan. Hope your foot is feeling better today. I had never heard of wine berries either and maybe they do grow better in the wild. We’ve found a few orchards of blueberries that almost make the grade though.

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on June 9, 2012 at 4:26 pm judithhb

Hi Dor – had trouble finding your new site. When I clicked on the link you sent I just kept getting the message that the site didn’t exist. However, when I typed the address I got through, so all is well.
Lovely new site. I guess I missed the earlier posts so I have plenty to go back over.
Take care sister No 3 and think of me when you are eating those wine berries. I don’t think we have them here but I shall ask the next time I visit the garden centre.
I am now off to click follow so that I don’t miss any of these posts. 🙂

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on June 10, 2012 at 7:13 am dorannrule

So glad you found me again Judith! And again – so glad you are back. Things are just not the same without you – like losing a sister to the Golden Door. 🙂 Dor

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on June 10, 2012 at 11:12 am photosfromtheloonybin

Mmmmmmm, yummy!!! 🙂

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on June 10, 2012 at 5:02 pm Lori

We have what we call wild dewberries here in Texas, they are like blackberries. My mother and aunts always made cobblers and jelly with them. I just like to eat them any way I can. I hope you get to enjoy that new patch this year. (You have bears there, oh my!)

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on June 11, 2012 at 12:53 am dorannrule

Your Texas dewberries sound luscious too. We live on a lot in the middle of a fairly large woodland tract between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains. Sometimes the black bears wind up here and camp out. We have one now that has been sighted with twin cubs. Neighbors are reminded not to leave their garbage out. What fun huh?

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on June 12, 2012 at 9:18 am Mama's Empty Nest

Yummy!! Those look totally delicious. Yes, it’s true those pesky bears love berries. We have raspberry and blueberries in our yard as well as a strawberry patch and I’m positive my close encounter with a bear late last summer was because he was nosing around trying to find our berries. So from now on, I’m going out with a wooden spoon and a frying pan lid!!! 🙂

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on June 12, 2012 at 1:12 pm dorannrule

Now it’s the crows, squirrels, and deer who are into our peaches. The peach tree is loaded with lovely fruit but we will never get a bite. The joys of country life and natural harvests. 🙂

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