They were tasty on multiple bushes, but the taste varied from bush to bush. The ones that ripened in the sun were usually better. Upon further consideration, I think they actually were raspberries, but some of them were black. I would definitely suggest finding a few bushes and seeing which ones taste best.
ah that would make a lot of sense, Black Raspberries (Rubus occidentialis) are delicious! The Blackberries I foraged for in my local forrests taste like crap, very nasty & somewhat bitter even when fully ripe/black color, as best with a lil sweetness.
I suspect deer are the reason it taste so bad as there is no animal in the ecosystem putting a selection pressure for better tasting fruit thus leaves Homo sapien in the ecosystem to do the job.
This is why I got excited you found good tasting blackberries, now I understand it’s just my area. The Dewberries taste delicious which are basically bigger blackberries that grow short & sprawl on the ground.
Yes, it is.
This is an oxymoron.
Can I please ask that we try and stick to the topic?
If you guys want to start a separate topic for your separate conversation, it would spare the rest of us the walls of off-topic text to get through.
Well, since one of the participants in this side-conversation on invasiveness is the person who started the thread, it seems a little difficult to call it off-topic. Perhaps the thread might be considered mis-titled, since the thread-starter seems to be more interested in breeding wild plants than in foraging.
You can always ask a mod to split the topic. I agree it went pretty far off course.
This is how it was meant to be. Just look at the gardening/seed-saving thread. Same OP, same battle.
Yea… it all started cuz I brought up Wineberries, among my favorite Wild Edibles .
What kinds of Wild Edibles do you Forage?
Well Foraging, Gardening, Plant Breeding are all very interconnected for me, I can’t talk about one without mentioning the other. I’ll start another topic about discussing the difference.
I want to ask the foragers here what would they like improved about the crops they forage? Any tips/methods they found to make foraging worthwhile.
Agreed altho I’m also still very interested in foraging as that’s all I currently do without land of my own. What kinds of Plants do you forage?
The seeds in muscadines are really obtrusive. They make the grapes hardly worth foraging. I have had domesticated grapes with seeds, and the seeds are not as objectionable because there is so much more grape relative to seed. Also, I seem to remember someone commented earlier that unlike other grape seeds, muscadine seeds are bitter.
Yes indeed, I’ve had muscadine grapes and can confirm the seeds are indeed bitter.
Muscadines are very different from all other grapes, no wonder why they belong to a different subgenus.
I’ve never had wild muscadine grapes, only those from the grocery store. I just wonder what is all the diversity in Muscadine Grapes? There’s gotta be more than just Bronze & Black Muscadines right?
Not really anything.
The foraging I do doesn’t need improvement. It doesn’t require any “help” of any kind from humans.
What kind of foraging do you do?
Blueberries, blackberries, sweetfern, dandelion leaves, morel mushrooms. (Reply #4)
Nice which species of Blueberries?
Is there any species you wished had bigger fruits or better flavor?
Low bush or velvet leaf.
No, the gifts are perfect the way they are.
I googled them, they’re native to Asia. So yes, invasive in the U.S.
Edit: Sorry. I didn’t notice this was from a few days ago.
low bush & velvet leaf? Ooh! I’d love to get seeds of both species!
I believe that’s why they do so well, Deer & Groundhogs don’t like to eat minty things.
Reduce the selection pressure from Deer & Groundhogs & they wouldn’t be as “Invasive”. I’m currently breeding the wild shiso patch for less astringency & weeding all those that taste bad with too much astringency. I started a 2nd patch where Deer & Rabbits ate all my Squash, Melons, Tomatoes & Beans. I also started popcorn from the Grocery Store.
I don’t feel like fighting deer, so I’ll just lean into the species that work under intense deer & rabbit pressure. Hoping to start Sweet Cicely there as well but Groundhogs eat that one too (Despite being a smelly plant).
@oksanaetal what do you think of Transplanting Monarda fitsulosa to protect tomatoes from deer/rabbits? It’s technically a “Native” and smells like Car-Tires.
I’m also hoping to get Stinging Nettle growing to protect my other wild edibles.
I love that plant!!