I love foraging for food. Portland has proved to be a productive landscape this summer! While
volunteering at the Bethany Lake community garden, I was asked to weed armloads of mint. Weed I did, right into a plastic bag to take home! Driving from there to pay to pick berries, I passed two heavily loaded cherry trees on the side of the road, so of course I stopped. Luckily, I had a large plastic container that I could balance on to harvest the yellow and red cherries. On my local dog walk, I noticed that the park down the street had several cherry plum trees. I modified an apple picker to harvest this tart, tasty fruit! Now I’m watching the blackberries ripen! I’m hoping to get enough to make blackberry wine.
volunteering at the Bethany Lake community garden, I was asked to weed armloads of mint. Weed I did, right into a plastic bag to take home! Driving from there to pay to pick berries, I passed two heavily loaded cherry trees on the side of the road, so of course I stopped. Luckily, I had a large plastic container that I could balance on to harvest the yellow and red cherries. On my local dog walk, I noticed that the park down the street had several cherry plum trees. I modified an apple picker to harvest this tart, tasty fruit! Now I’m watching the blackberries ripen! I’m hoping to get enough to make blackberry wine.
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Cash (left) and River Monster (right) are not amused by all the time spent processing fruit. Foraged cherries and mint are circled in the left photo. The right photo shows the finished product, canned fruit as preserves, jelly, syrup, and whole!
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(Left) I’m taking River Monster on a dog walk/cherry plum picking adventure with my modified apple picking tool. (Right) Cherry plums in a 5-gallon bucket.
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