Grandmother's Juneberry Pie

As a wee lad my grandmother used to make pies out of what she called Juneberries. She used little pot pie tins and made my brother and I each pies regularly while the berries were in season. One of my fondest childhood memories, I'm smiling while I write this, was eating those little pies and, unbeknownst to my mother, watching grandma's favorite show, MASH, on a little black and white television in her single wide trailer. In remembrance of those times each summer in early July when the Saskatoon's (Juneberries) are ripe we not only pick many gallons for later use but my wife makes a simple pie out of the almond flavored berries.


The Saskatoon, serviceberry, or Juneberry is a shrub native to some parts of the U.S. and Canada that grows wild all over Northern Idaho. Saskatoon berries contain higher levels of protein, fat, and fiber than most other fruit. They were once used by native people as a key ingredient in pemmican, a nutritious traditional Cree Indian food comprised of dried venison or other wild game, animal fat, bone marrow, and berries.

We use this berry as an indicator of when to begin hunting for huckleberries as the earliest ones ripen around the same time. Many of this year's berries seem a bit small and not nearly as numerous as last year due to the lack of moisture this summer. Hopefully the mountain huckleberries have fared better, we shall soon find out.

Delectable Wild Cherries

A trip to the foothills around lake Coeur d'Alene last week not only provided us with a sampling of wild cherries but a place for the boy to burn off some energy.


I am not exactly sure what kind of cherries these are, some of the trees had black cherries and others were red. Mostly I am interested in the stone of this fruit as I have successfully grown a number of these trees from seed in the past. Some of the trees we came across were at least 50 or 60" tall making cherry picking interesting to say the least. The trees grow extremely fast and the one in the below pictures background is four years old and may give us a cherry or two this year.


We simply plant the seeds, mark the spot, and let mother nature take it's course. In the spring, if we are lucky, there will be a few cherry trees popping up. The cherry do not germinate as readily as apple seeds so we made sure to plant enough.

Wuttahimneash

"Wuttahimneash" is what the Naragansett Indians called strawberries, referred to as heart-seed berry by many Native Americans. We have been enjoying the first of several harvests of strawberries from our everbearing plants for over two weeks now.

A somewhat disturbing event has been taking place the last couple years as the number one competitor for our strawberries, the robin, has not appeared in great numbers. The reason for this is that all the baby birds are being stolen from their nests by ravens. Ravens fly around searching the trees until they find a nest and then kill and remove the baby bird to be eaten later or fed to their own young. We have not even bothered to cover our berries this year, for the first time. I must say that I would rather cover the berries and watch the baby birds learning to feed themselves... such is life. On the other hand, ravens are one of my favorite birds regardless of their bad dining habits.

We not only gather our berries from the gardens but have been entrusted with two types of the over 35 species of wild strawberries. Virginia strawberry (Fragaria virginiana) and Woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca) grow throughout the forested areas of our property. Some Indian tribes used to mash the berries and mix them with cornmeal making a bread of sorts that English colonists transformed into the modern strawberry shortcake we now enjoy today. We pick the small wild berries and make a strawberry walnut bread out of them, it's very good.


I have also been planting easily lifted spring runners from the Virginia Strawberry, one of the few small strawberries to reproduce from both seed and runners, in my garden. It will be interesting to see how they perform under more pampered conditions.


Strawberries seeds are on the outside rather than contained inside the fruit. They are called straw-berries because straw is what was commonly used to mulch them. The everbearing woodland strawberries in this picture do not develope runners and must reproduce through seed. They have a very 'strong' sweet flavor.


Thinned beet green quiche and strawberry salad for two was on last night's dinner menu. Yummy!

A Lazy Afternoon Spent Gathering Wild Edibles With My Favorite Grandson

It's one thing to force your will upon crops in a garden, provide them with the best possible environment in which to grow and see pretty good results, but gathering wild native edibles is a whole other challenge. It involves a lot of wandering, searching, patience, and of course lots of luck. At first anyway, after awhile you not only have the knowledge of where certain plants are to be found but get a certain feel for where they "should" be located.

I spent the other day foraging with my grandson, teaching him about various edible plants. We gathered wild asparagus and even found a few onions. He was so excited to find the first asparagus, he always (I let him... shh) finds the first ones whether it be asparagus, morels, or some other edible delicacy. The boy can now readily identify, and properly pronounce over
fourteen edible and a few poisonous wild plants, not bad for a four year old (almost five). Will any of this knowledge be of use to him later in life, I have no idea, but it certainly won't hurt.


Flowering wild onions.



Picking asparagus using a two handed approach.


I showed him how to wrap the package using strands of grass so that it would be easier to carry... "Um , that's really great Gramps, now what do I do with it? It's kind of heavy you know."


"Here you carry it."

A young master woodsmen proudly displaying his wares. Actually at this point he was quite bored with the whole venture and wanted to look for bugs under the rocks.


If my only accomplishment in this world is to have imparted some "remembered" knowledge upon this child then I will have lived a full and productive life.

A Shaggy Mane Morning

Ah yes, a shaggy mane mushroom for breakfast... what a treat. They magically appear in our backwoods after spring and early summer rains. Unlike morels, there is a very short window of opportunity in which to harvest them, a few hours too late and they become an inky mess. I only found one this morning, sometimes there are several. Fried and served with fresh eggs... delectable.

Be very aware that this lovely specimen DOES have at least one poisonous look alike, regardless of what some mushroom books might tell you. Often gregarious and always abdominally troubling Chlorophyllum molybdites, or false parasol, looks similar enough when small.

On Top of the World

We decided to take a break, escape the near record heat, and find some place to cool off. We had no interest in joining the masses at the local beach, we wanted peace, quiet, and cool exhilaration. Fortunately, we know of the perfect place that does indeed meet all the above criteria and shall remain nameless. We seem to be the only ones to ever hike into this mountain wonderland in the late spring... and will be more than happy if it remains that way. It's not the highest hill by any means but at around 6,000 feet it was a perfect place to cool off.

There was a good thirty feet of snow on top.


On the way up we were able to find a few more morels for tonight's dinner and see how the huckleberry bushes were progressing... they look great so far.



Walking through a small mountain meadow halfway to the peak.

The second leg of this hike leaves the trail over ten feet under the snow.


Wild flox overlooking natures playground.


On top of our little part of the world and, for a brief moment, free from the things of man!

Wild Asparagus

I have been on the hunt for wild asparagus for sometime now, finding it for the first time last year. We happened to inadvertently stumble upon the palatable delights while walking along a river bank picking service berries in late June. The plants were already in the latter stages of their development for the most part, but we were able to gather enough for a meal. I made a mental note of the location and decided to make a return trip earlier the next year.

A new year has arrived and we went back and found our asparagus bed still under water as the river had yet to recede from spring runoff. We only found one stalk higher up on the bank that was bit past its prime. We hope to go back for another look in a couple of weeks. It is interesting that asparagus roots can survive underwater at all, but they must as this river is always high in the early spring.

It seems like it has been harder to "get away" and hunt for wild edibles or just wander the forest trails the last couple years for a variety of reasons. One of my goals for this year is to make time for such events as those are some of the best days of my life. Forced to choose between our wild wanderings and my food gardens, the gardens would be set aside. The quiet enchantment of the wilderness has no equal in my eyes, it brings about a feeling of awe that cannot be fully appreciated through mere words. My preference, of course, is to enjoy them both for as long as possible.


Last year's asparagus was found all along the river bank, about as far out as the partially submerged bush in the picture.


Wild lupine was just starting to bloom.

A Good Year for Wild Edibles?

We managed another quick trip into the woods to hunt for mushrooms, one that proved much more fruitful then our last. In a little over an hour we were able to come up with just over 30 fine morels before being chased away by a windy rainstorm. One never wants to be caught in the mountains of northern Idaho in a spring windstorm, especially when not prepared for such an event. Normally, at the very least, we bring our smallest chainsaw with to cut away any downed trees that might fall across the road...we neglected to do so on this trip and were forced to beat a hasty retreat.


This Calypso orchid, also known as the "fairy slipper," was named after the sea nymph Calypso. According to Greek mythology this daughter of Atlas lived a solitary life on the island of Ogygia in the Ionian Sea and made life very interesting for certain sailors who washed up on her shores.

This orchid with it's vanilla scent and intricate design is one of my favorite flowers and a tell-tale sign that morels are in the area. It apparently has developed a sort of relationship with various fungi and shares the nutrients provided to both from the trees in old growth forests. Only having one leaf it cannot readily photosynthesize by itself and uses certain fungi as a host.


Some of the mushrooms we came across were not of the edible sort, like this deadly Gyromitra esculenta, Conifer False Morel also called "Beefsteak" or "Brain Morel". This little guy contains compounds similar to those used to manufacture rocket fuel...not good to eat, although some people do as the chemical concentrations differ depending upon where it is located...I'll pass.

And these Snow Bank Morels? Apparently delicious. Or are they Gabled False Morels (poisonous), they look so similar one has to examine the spores to tell the difference...these are not for me either.

I'm not sure what this one is.

We dried a few of the mushrooms to be savored at a later date and the rest were fried with onions, garlic, and potatoes...a most delicious topping for an evening salad. I hope our good luck with morels today is a sign of things to come as we spend the warm months gathering various wild edibles.

The First Morel

We went deep into the forest. Searching, hunting for a fascinating little treasure that is found for only a brief period of time in the mountains of Northern Idaho early each spring. No time to look at flowers on this trip, we were on a distinct mission.

Past beaver dams.

And past the trees they had chiseled away.

Stopping only to reflect upon the beauty that engulfed us on every front, we diligently trudged onward.

Then, at the end of a long waterway, there it was...the first morel. A superb example of Morchella elata, the black morel. Proudly standing alone, its siblings still undercover, we took only a picture and that was enough.

The Good Weeds

We awoke to face a wintry wonderland, the snow had returned with cold in tow. It is of little consequence to me though, as I am fully aware that this grim beast stands on precarious footing as summers gates will soon swing wide and a new greener life will prevail.

Weather aside, I often wonder if anyone is aware of the abundance of food that nature provides, practically forces upon us, in the form of so called weeds. I prefer the term "wild edibles" and always look forward to adding them to our salads not only for flavor but the immense nutritional benefits they provide as well.

Two of the most prevalent and hardy of the wild edible greens that inhabit my garden are chickweed and catmint. Both are widely available and can be easily obtained and enjoyed if you can overcome the stigma that ensues when one is found to be a weed eater.


We find chickweed all winter long in areas that have been protected from snow and usually allow it to take hold in our fall garden. There are at least thirteen various types of chickweed all of which are supposed to be edible. Common chickweed also called Winterweed is an annual ground cover whose trailing body has paired oval leaves with pointed tips that form on opposite sides of the stalk. A line of fine hairs run down the stalk and alternates at each leaf junction.


The flower is white, deeply lobed, almost heart shaped, and consists of five petals that seemingly form almost year round, and close after dark and during periods of wet weather.


Although considered an annual it still flowers and seeds under protection throughout the year in our garden. This most interesting plant has a pleasant corn like flavor and is also an excellent source of fodder for our chickens...hence the name. Reported to contain traces of nitrates we are carful to consume it in moderation. From a nutritional standpoint this plant is said to be loaded with vitamins and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, silicon, zinc, sodium and high amounts of vitamin A, C, D, as well as B6 and B12.

We do try to keep this plant contained through weeding as it spreads very quickly and only allow it to thrive going into the cold months to be used as a valuable ground cover and food source. Since we also feed this to our chickens there is usually not much left come spring, and we do not have to worry about it re-seeding all over our garden.

Catmint, or catnep (nip) is a member of the mint family and is a very cold hardy perennial. Ours have silvery-gray to purple foliage, paired mottled leaves and variously colored flowers that, in our area, have small almost pink blooms that show mid to late summer. With a flavor that I can only describe as bitter minty, it is or was most commonly used as a seasoning, cold and flu remedy and of course as a stimulant for cats. Not only does it contain many of the same beneficial nutritional properties as chickweed but also adds quite a zest to our salads in small doses.

Catmint also contains nepetalactone an essential oil that is supposed to be many times more effective at repelling insects than the toxic chemical DEET. I have tried growing it around my broccoli plants to repel aphids, and it did seem to help. Even more then preventing the bad bugs I noticed the flowers seemed to draw many beneficial insects into our garden, especially parasitic wasps that kill aphids. Not only is it a natural insecticide but also contains thymol that can be used as a fungicide to help prevent dampening off in seedlings.

We are careful to control the amount that are allowed to re-seed every year as this plant has a most stubborn root system, is extremely prolific, and unlike chickweed will regrow if the roots are not removed.

These are only two of the many wonderful "wild greens" that we incorporate into our daily diet. I think that perhaps the more wild herbs and greens may posses even greater health giving properties then their domesticated counterparts. I am by no means an authority on wild edibles and am only attempting to relate that which I personally have observed when discussing such. I hope that more people will learn to embrace the foods that nature so readily provides, and benefit from the abundance thereof. Perhaps if people were aware that some of the most healthy food on the planet is right under foot they would not be so quick to dismiss these magnificent creations with chemical disdain.