July 15, 2008
"Every child should experience the taste of a sun-warmed strawberry plucked right from its greenery, or a fragrant blackberry picked on a summer morning, for a berry never tastes quite as wonderful as those we popped into our mouths along some dusty road during childhood." Cece Sullivan, Seattle Times Cooking School.
Flickr image taken by RevenueGal.
In The sweet season: Northwest berries on their way Sullivan writes about the many varieties of Northwest berries including wild alpine berries, amber berries, concord berries and brambleberries. There are many blackberry-raspberry hybrids in the bramble family which include olalliaberries, boysenberries, marionberries, loganberries, waldoberries, olallieberries, chehalemberries and sylvinberries.
Gooseberries are a variety of currents, and like many other berries contain potassium, calcium, phosphorus, niacin, dietary fiber and ellagic acid, a natural cancer- fighting substance that White Currant taken by Vadim Plessky. does not break down when cooked. Lets not forget about vitamins A, D, and C in those berries. They are great for jamming because of their high pectin content.
In Sweet Season, Sullivan suggests two recipe sources. First is Kathleen Desmond Stang who incorporates our Northwest berries to create delicious recipes in her Northwest Berry Cookbook. Second is Berries: A Country Garden Cookbook by Sharon Kramis which incorporates a variety of fruits and vegetables with images taken by Kathryn Kleinman.
Northwest Berries and Grape Information is another great berry resource where you can learn about varieties of blackberries, cultivated strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, huckleberries, gooseberries and much more.
July and August are prime months for domestic and wild berry harvests, with some available in the late weeks of summer.
If you live in Yakima or travel there, here's a site to direct you to the blueberry harvest.
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