A WET BUT PLEASANT MORNING
LAPINE SWEET CHERRIES
RIPE AT THE SAME TIME
PICKING BLUEBERRIES
BUNCHBERRIESSunday, 8:30 AM. Wind W, calm. The sky is overcast and it has been raining lightly. The barometer predicts more rain but it is lightening up somewhat. Lucky and I went to the beach this morning, where it was wet but pleasant.
Call it a hat trick, triple crown, the trifecta or whatever, we have hit the jackpot, berry-wise. Raspberries, blueberries and cherries are all ripe and for sale at the same time in Bayfield’s orchard country, and all are at their peak and delicious! Last year the cherry blossoms froze and we had no cherries. This year it is a bumper crop. The sweet cherries now for sale at Apple Hill Orchard are the variety ‘Lapine’, as the more popular Bing cherry variety does not do well here. The Lapine is not quite as sweet, has a redder color and I think a better flavor. The raspberries will be over soon and the blueberries are just beginning, but for now we are in Berry City.
I’ll throw in a little known wild edible berry for good measure: the bunchberry, or dwarf dogwood, Cornus canadensis, which is now ripe in the woods. The Indians ate it, evidently as a snack food. The plant also has some analgesic properties. The berry tastes rather bland but pleasant, and I like it’s waxy feel in the mouth. But the berries are tiny and have a large seed, so it I find them not worth the effort.
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