My husband recently found a secret wineberry patch that he took me to this past Sunday. “Oh, the excitement!” If you remember what happened on our first encounter with the mysterious red berries, you’ll be happy to know that things went much better this second time around. It was relaxing to walk down the path, breathe in the fresh summer air and feel the sunshine periodically beam through the trees. Cute chipmunks littered our way as they darted across the path and dug around in the brush. We had never before seen so many chipmunks in one place. They were so fun! Of course there were also squirrels, birds, bees, all sorts of butterflies (yellow, white, periwinkle, orange, black, multicolored), a bunny, and beautiful dragonflies with big black wings and bright blue bodies that my husband deemed to be fairies. I agreed! Then we found the spider…the ginormous creepy-crawly from Land of the Lost.
See?!!!
SCARY! The body was about the size of your thumb.
I was worried that it would spring from the tree and attack while my husband took this picture.
We also saw four bucks gracefully gallop through the brush, which was a most memorable sight! I really wanted to see some deer that day and I certainly received an eyeful. They looked magical as they leapt with the whites of their tails glowing in the sunshine. Nearby there was a tiny lake with lots of small fish, two snakes (one was fishing!) that were believed to be copperheads, and an adorable little turtle that scurried deep into the water upon being discovered. Where we live we see a few wild creatures on a daily basis but somehow being surrounded by nature makes seeing so many of them feel more special.
“BEHOLD!” [said in thunder voice]
Lots and lots of bushes, stretched as far as the eye could see, to forage for berries.
With our handy bag of berry-filling containers ready to go, we dug in. Literally.
It was a rummage fest to say the least. Overall, the berries weren’t as plentiful as they had been when my husband first discovered the patch. We figured that many of the resident creatures had been enjoying a berry feast, so we found ourselves digging deeper to find the sweet, red yumminess that is the wineberry. The blackberries were much easier to locate as they grew higher from the ground, however many that we found were not ripe enough to fully enjoy. But we did manage to pick a few juicy ones.
It seemed like we had foraged all there was until…
…”Jackpot!” Squeals of delight could have been heard by anyone within screaming earshot.
We found more berries hidden underneath some really sinister sticky ivy with tiny stinging barbs.
I’m still not exactly sure what type of ivy it was but it wasn’t too horrible as any irritation we experienced subsided shortly after the tiny barbs were removed. I remember finding the same type of ivy the last time we foraged for wineberries. My poor arms were covered in barbs and I feared the worst, but all ended well.
The wineberries we found were a lot sweeter and more flavorful than the ones from last time. I was amazed at the difference. I thought that maybe the soil had a lot to do with the flavor as the brambles were much more removed than the other patch we foraged. Of course we nibbled a few berries here and there, and then lost all control and ended up gobbling the whole lot before we even made it back to the car. But that’s what we had set out to do, to forage and gobble and enjoy the entire experience. I can’t imagine finding enough wineberries to last more than an hour, but I suppose there’s next time!
Remember when we first discovered wineberries? Check out the following link:
