Editor’s Note: Today, join us out at Tannadice Farms, 3465 Burns Road (just off of Condensory Road), for a great farm tour as part of the the Know Where Your Food Comes From Tour and the Eat Real. Eat Local 30-Day Challenge. Heather and Allan will be on hand from 1 to 2:30 p.m. taking folks on a gorgeous walk through their farm full of cows, pigs, turkeys and more.

It should be a great afternoon and I hope all of you will join us.

Meanwhile, it’s wild berry season. That means it’s time to get out into the forest and get snacking.

Barb Haffner is here to give us a 101 on how:

Comox Valley has been nick named the “land of plenty”.  K’ómoks, now known as Comox, comes from the first nations word meaning plentiful, rich or wealthy.

We truly are blessed with a wealth of natural bounty.

This month in OBE is all about eating locally and where we can find those farms, markets, and growers that can supply us with locally grown food. Let’s not forget the best supplier of all, good old Mother Nature who offers us a “land of plenty” right outside our door in our own neighborhoods.

We can help our children get great exercise and at the same time connect with nature by bringing them to the places where they can safely map out new terrain and get to know the wild flowers, plants and character of our local places.

Checking out these wild niches close to home, like the woods behind the school, is a good start to where we can find many local wild edibles. Active Comox Valley has put together two great maps  detailing 24 different walks and trails right in Comox Valley, many of them right in town. Berries and other edibles can be easily found on these walks.

If you have never been berry picking before it can be a confusing or intimating experience. What to pick, where is it, when is it available, is it poisonous? To keep it simple we’re just going to look at some of the most common berries found here, the most easy to identify and the most easy to locate: salmonberries; thimbleberries; blackberries; huckleberries; and salal.

Salmonberry, thimbleberry and blackberry are all in the same family (Rosaceae) and genus (Rubus) so their appearance including the fruit looks similar, like a raspberry.

Salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis) like to grow moist areas so look for these along creek trails. These shrubs can grow taller than an adult human so you may need to look up. The leaves are alternate and compound with three leaflets.

They flower in April or May and the flowers are brilliant pink and star shaped. The spent flower shown here is what it looks like early July. Fruit is either red to yellowish red and are ready to eat mid July to August. Some people find these too tart but I enjoy them.

The fruit of a Thimbleberry (Rubus parviflorus) is bright red when ready in August and you’ll find these shrubs (0.5m – 2.5m high) along roadsides and forest clearings. Known for making an excellent jam, they get their name because when you pick the fruit it leaves a hollow which looks like a thimble. Their leaves are large and look a bit like a maple leaf (5-20 cm across, palmate, 5 lobed)

We have several species of blackberry. The most common, Himalayan blackberry (Rubus discolor) is a non-native and very invasive. However, they are very tasty and abundant. The berries ripen from light green to bright red and finally glossy black in August. Like all the berries mentioned thus far these crush easily in a bucket so either eat as you go or take care to pack them. The flowers have five petals and found in of 6-15 flowers per cluster. (blackberry cluster) The Himalayan blackberry can be found just about anywhere, back lanes, empty lots, and any disturbed area.

Huckleberry is in the same family and genus as the blueberry so if you know what a blueberry looks like you’re half way to knowing how to identify a red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium). Shaded woods and on the tree stumps left by early loggers is where you will typically find this shrub. It’s recognizable by it’s by its round leaves and fine twigs. The berries are round and orange to pinkish red, ripe in June to August.

Salal (Gaulthefion shallon) has been included here partly because it is so abundant and easy to pick in the fall. While some don’t find the berries good to eat right off the bush they make good jam and its berries make a wonderful color for dies. Your young one can also use the berries to “paint” a masterpiece using various plants found in the wild. Try it sometime on some a heavier weight paper like watercolor paper. This bush can reach 2-8 feet, with oval, thick, glossy leaves with a tip at the end. The berries are black with rough skin and red stems. It blossoms in May and ripens August to mid October.

One plant you may want to learn to identify if you plan on trail walking is the family of nettle. While it has medicinal properties it gives quite a rash and sting if you brush against it. It has a pretty flower but don’t be tempted to pick it. It likes moist areas and often found on trail edges.

If you start your berry picking experience with low expectations and just go for the fun of learning to identify some of the berries listed above you’ll enjoy yourself and so will your young companion. If you‘d like further reading two books I’d recommend are The Pacific Norwest Berry Book (includes recipes) and Plants of Coastal British Columbia.

Question of the day: What is your favourite forest snack?

There is some luxurious Clayoquot Botanicals Tea up for grabs for one random commenter.

Laurie won yesterday’s fun giveaway.

This giveaway is closed. Shar won!