Day 331: Ribes sanguineum, the native Red-Flowering Currant so loved by hummingbirds that I planted two in my yard for my feathered friends' enjoyment, produces a dusty blue, freckled berry full of crunchy seeds. They are purportedly edible, but I find the lingering musty aftertaste undesirable. Some people in my acquaintance eat them, so a few years ago, I collected all my bushes produced and juiced them for jelly. The result, even though I mixed it with the berries of nursery-grown red-currant cultivar, still carried that dusty note. Lesson learned, I now prune the bushes back right after their blooming period is done, but a few fruits always manage to develop on the twigs I missed.
While I don't wish to eat products with preservatives and other chemical additives in them, there is a point at which harvesting "natural" foods passes into the category of "ridiculous." As I mentioned, some friends eat these, and even claim to enjoy them. Other friends (who will recognize the direction my finger is pointing) harvest the strangest greens for the table (notably Lapsana communis, an invasive weed). Thanks, but I'm not quite hungry enough to extend the "natural foods" fad far enough to encompass Nipplewort leaves or currants which leave a taste in your mouth like that you'd expect after bicycling down a dusty country road.
No comments:
Post a Comment