Berry Jam

Did I mention the berries enough yet? I can't get over how many berries there are. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it's fairly rare to find berries on a trail, except perhaps a few blackberries, if you're lucky. And, at most you might find one handful, maybe. In Norway, blueberry bushes blanket the forest floor and raspberry bushes crowd sunny spots along the roads and clearings. At one time laborers were brought in to harvest the fruit but now the cost of labor is so high that commercial picking happens elsewhere, and the ripe berries lie neglected in July and August. What a shame!! You can walk for miles to the north of Oslo, knee high in berry bushes and the farther you go, the better the harvest. Earlier, I saw a sign on the road organizing a berry picking event for local resident near the reservoir, but when we visited the same area a week later there were plenty of tasty morsels left. After less than two hours we filled our stomachs and two tupperware containers.

My boss, who is obsessed with cowberry jam, lent us a berry picker for the weekend. The device is a red plastic scooper with handle on top and metal prongs at one end. As you scoop, it shaves off the berries along with a few leaves and twigs, so it takes some time afterwards to clean out the debris. But, it saves time trying to individually pick every branch. I don't know if it harms the plants in any way, but it speeds up the process to some extent.

The next step is jam making. We were going to start this weekend, but we didn't have the right jars. So, that will have to wait till later. I just hope we don't run out of time. I don't know how long the bounty lasts.

With high food prices, the thought of harvesting and wildcrafting becomes somewhat economical, but I think the entertainment value still outweighs any actual savings. :)


Does anyone have any good recipes for blueberry or raspberry jam?