Picking currants

I spent three hours on Saturday afternoon foraging in the forest for the season's earliest -- and dare I say, the best? -- wild berries. Those three hours flew by as we gathered these red currants:

Notice the nifty yellow milk carton berry bucket, crafted by my berry-picking companion, Angie. It was hot on Saturday and the sun was beating down on us, all the worse because we were wearing long-sleeves and pants to better fend off the mosquitoes. I was wishing I had a rubberband with me so I could tie my hair up but it's probably a good thing I didn't because the mosquitoes would have made a meal of my neck.

We poked around in the woods for a good hour or so, finding a few currants here and there but not really finding that mother lode we were sure was out there. And it turns out I really suck at spotting currants. Angie would call out, "Oh! There's some!" And I'd squint off in the direction she was pointing. Still not seeing anything, I'd stumble off the path following her into the trees, still not seeing much of anything. It wasn't until she actually started plucking currants off the bush that I'd say, "Oh yeah! There's some."

Here's a gorgeous bunch of them Angie found hanging like jewels in a patch of sunlight that penetrated an otherwise dark and shady spot in the forest:

A moss-covered fallen tree resting in a patch of sunlight:

We did finally find the motherlode and picked our hearts out till our buckets were full. Perfect timing too because I was sweaty and hot and disgusted with the amount of bloody mosquitoes I'd smashed in my hair. In other words, I suffered for these currants!

But when I got home I took the most wonderfully refreshing shower of my life, lovely cool water washing away all the filth, and then I sat on the porch and cleaned the currants of all their little stems so I could pack them away in the freezer until I collect enough to make some currant jelly. It just so happens we left plenty of currants unpicked back at that patch so we know right where to go next time.

More to come on that jelly.

Comments

[Ida]

wow... i wish i have the chance to try this!