If I had to pick a favorite wild berry, the black raspberry would probably be the winner. Also known as blackcaps or Rubis occidentalis, they grow wild throughout much of the eastern and midwestern United States, but can be cultivated anywhere in USDA zones 4 through 8. If you have a some near you, brave the brambles and try a few. … Read more
“You can make wine out of anything but a rock!” So says Appalachian winemaker John Bulgin in The Foxfire Book of Wine Making, and my experience says he’s right. Being the frugal person I am, I’ve never been fond of paying beaucoup bucks for beverages. So when I’ve wanted wine, I’ve made it.* In spring, I’ve raced my neighbors’ lawnmowers … Read more
I got home from curb shopping last night and my roommate’s friend asked what the best thing was that I ever found in the trash. This is a popular question for non-trash-pickers to ask trash-pickers, but it is unanswerable. It’s like asking, “What’s the best thing you ever bought at the grocery store?” or “Which day in the 1990s had … Read more
I ran out of cherries to pick on Wednesday — at least, the sweeter ones. The tree with the more bitter cherries still had plenty, but I decided that it might be best not to pick them, as I then would feel obliged to juice them, and that could very well mean a most unpleasant drink. With no cherries to … Read more
Last week, I noticed a couple huge cherry trees on the edge of a park that on my route to work. The fruit hung down in racemes like chokecherries, and the ripe ones were very black. I had never seen a chokecherry tree that big (25 feet or so), plus the tree had rough and shaggy bark (chokecherry usually has … Read more
I am glad to report that I am finally done processing the 250 pounds of apples that Dekalb and I picked a week before my birthday. (I am sure that Dekalb would like me to note here that they were all free or he wouldn’t have found any thrill at all in harvesting them.) This is what 250 pounds of … Read more