It's that time again! Berry season!
The sweetest part of the summer.
And it brings back so many memories...
On the prairies, pies come in two forms.
The edible.
And the inedible.
One kind is made from prairie fruit.
The other comes from cows.
One smells wonderful.
The other . . . doesn't.
And the inedible.
One kind is made from prairie fruit.
The other comes from cows.
One smells wonderful.
The other . . . doesn't.
You must choose carefully.
Just FYI.
Sooo . . . prairie fruit.
This comes in the form of raspberries, strawberries, some apples, chokecherries and saskatoons.
The first three are grown mostly in gardens.
The latter two, in the creases and folds of the landscape near water.
The first three can be picked at any time during the summer, as they ripen.
The last two need planning.
Especially the saskatoons.
Their picking requires a family adventure.
And that's where the fun comes in.
Sometime in the summer, Mom's stack of pails would magically appear.
It was the signal for all of us kids to quickly get into our swimming suits because we were making a trip to the river to pick berries and go for a swim.
The best of times.
Mom had several favourite berry-picking spots.
All of them thick with bushes.
And none of them near our house.
She would load us, our pails and our towels, into the car.
And in a cloud of dust, we were off.
The saskatoon bushes started at the top of the cliff.
And grew downward.
Toward the river.
You had to move carefully.
And hang on.
Like little goats, we would scamper all over those bushes.
Picking.
And . . . well, let's just stick with picking.
Mom's plan was always to have each of us fill a bucket.
Simple enough.
If kids hadn't also come equipped with mouths.
One handful into the bucket.
One handful into the mouth.
And so it went.
After a while, each of us would have half a bucket of berries.
A blue mouth.
And full tummy.
With the hot, summer sun shining down, the smell of baking sage and grass in ones nostrils, and one's family gathered around, it was pure heaven.
Then we would swim.
And to top it off, fresh saskatoon pie when we got home.
Did I mention the best of days?
Just FYI.
Sooo . . . prairie fruit.
This comes in the form of raspberries, strawberries, some apples, chokecherries and saskatoons.
The first three are grown mostly in gardens.
The latter two, in the creases and folds of the landscape near water.
The first three can be picked at any time during the summer, as they ripen.
The last two need planning.
Especially the saskatoons.
Their picking requires a family adventure.
And that's where the fun comes in.
Sometime in the summer, Mom's stack of pails would magically appear.
It was the signal for all of us kids to quickly get into our swimming suits because we were making a trip to the river to pick berries and go for a swim.
The best of times.
Mom had several favourite berry-picking spots.
All of them thick with bushes.
And none of them near our house.
She would load us, our pails and our towels, into the car.
And in a cloud of dust, we were off.
The saskatoon bushes started at the top of the cliff.
And grew downward.
Toward the river.
You had to move carefully.
And hang on.
Like little goats, we would scamper all over those bushes.
Picking.
And . . . well, let's just stick with picking.
Mom's plan was always to have each of us fill a bucket.
Simple enough.
If kids hadn't also come equipped with mouths.
One handful into the bucket.
One handful into the mouth.
And so it went.
After a while, each of us would have half a bucket of berries.
A blue mouth.
And full tummy.
With the hot, summer sun shining down, the smell of baking sage and grass in ones nostrils, and one's family gathered around, it was pure heaven.
Then we would swim.
And to top it off, fresh saskatoon pie when we got home.
Did I mention the best of days?
P.S. Picking chokecherries wasn't nearly as much fun.
For one thing, they are SOUR.
But they make the nicest syrup.
And that is another story...
And now, my berry pickers!
Great pictures!
ReplyDeleteI had to google saskatoons. Now I want to try them. Especially in a pie. Possibly baked by you?
Done!
DeleteOh, that must have been so heavenly. I have never tasted either saskatoons or chokecherries. I am ingrigued. I have picked wild sand plums back when I lived in Kansas, and wild elderberries, blackberries and persimmons when I lived in rural Arkansas. If you bake a pie for Karen, will you bake one for me, too?
ReplyDeleteHow much fun -- great pictures.
ReplyDeleteAdorable pics and OMG now I am craving a berry pie!!
ReplyDeleteSaskatoons and chokeberries are both alien to me. We had similar expeditions to pick blackberries. Followed by delicious blackberry pie. And jam. In the middle there were stained mouths and fingers, full tummies and a heap of fun.
ReplyDeleteSounds heavenly, and you have your very own pickers now, you lucky grandma :)
ReplyDeleteIf you've ever had one chokecherry, it isn't likely you've eaten a second one, is it? My mouth is puckering up just thinking about it! But chokecherry jelly ... another story altogether :)
What exactly are Saskatoons? I've never heard of them, obviously we don't have them here in Oz, unless they have a different name here. I love pie.
ReplyDeleteNothing makes me happier than a story from your family. I love it!! I have been thinking about your one month summer.....we could not live in more diverse places could we? My love to you dear friend...
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely times! Yes, that's the thing with children and picking, as we have blackberries around here with the same draw, the same problem. You send them out hoping for plenty and get...not nearly as much as you'd hoped, but that's okay, they had fun.
ReplyDeleteanother story altogether :)
ReplyDeletehttps tm 918kiss com
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