B as Blueberry

One of the privileges of living in Norway is obviously to be surrounded by nature. The more I spend time here, the more I really understand it.

During this summer, two books have followed us Morten and I, coming back in the daily routine over and over. One is about plants in general, the other is specifically on berries. Although they're both in norwegian, they are a treasure of information once you can decode it (either with Morten or a dictionary).

 

In result, one evening, a fact suddenly blew our minds : We have 12 different kinds of eatable berries growing around the house ! 

Here's the poster Morten did about it the next morning :

Some of them can be eaten straight from the bush, some need a bit of preparation. But all in one, it's a hell of a good news ! 

So, after currants and black currants from the garden, cloudberries and crowberries from the swamps areas nearby, this is the time of the Blueberries !

Actually, to my greatest delight, the blueberry grows almost everywhere in the woods where we live. Although it doesn't mean that every bush produces berries, the potential is massive. It took us a couple of good walk through the forest and by the lake to find the precious fruits. 

And, oh boy, we find some…

It's not easy, because those little plants are tricksy you know. The have a special — I dare say brilliant — defense mechanism : camouflage. 

For those who are not familiar with the nordic blueberries (that is not the same as the american variety for exemple), the plant itself isn't taller that 30cm above the ground. Once you've spotted the little blue bullets hanging in a bush, the natural reaction is to come close to pick them… and there the magic happens. The berries disappear. As soon as you stand above them, the tiny leaves cover the fruits and you can't see them anymore. At first, it's really disturbing, as a dozen of blueberries noticed 10 seconds earlier have suddenly vanished in front of you. It's super effective. The leaves themselves are not big enough to cover one berry, so you'd think that you would still see through. Que néni ! It's remarkable how this plant has evolved to protect it fruits this way. If it wasn't enough, the leaves change their color as the autumn comes and the graduation of red with green tricks the eyes in the most clever way. 

In the end, it takes a good dose of time and patience to collect this kind of berries by hand. But, the result is the best rewards. So far, we have made jam, drinking sirop, another kind of raw jam with the left-overs of the sirop making berries, liquors (hehe), and dry the most of it. Needless to say we have also ate a LOT of fresh ones while we were picking…

Coming from a world where blueberries are only sold in the shops in summer and for an expensive price, the past month has been like a dream. Now, there's still lots in the woods, ready to be picked, but we have to hurry as the season passes and the fruits started to dry on the plants. One or two expeditions more and the rest will be for our dear neighbours in the woods :-) 

The next berries coming are the Lingonberry, which also promises fantastic jam to go with wild meat during the winter. It feels so good and rewarding to harvest them ourselves and created what we eat. Beyond the financial gain and the control on the product, it just feels right. Right to put some energy in it, to work and play with nature, to not blindly buy a product with a nice picture on it but actually touch the fruit… 

It feels real.