While the blueberry boasts a pedigreed history in North America, the controversial wineberry is a newcomer to these parts. Native to Asia, the wineberry was imported as an attractive, exotic landscape specimen, one that eventually found its way to the country lanes and forest edges. Here at our homestead, the graceful arches of wineberry canes line the margins of our field.
How much damage they've done to native species has been debated, but what's clear is that this raspberry cousin offers an abundance of sweet, melt-in-your-mouth berries this time of year.
Ripe berries just about fall off the plant—but beware the tiny thorns that line the canes.
So far, I've just eaten handfuls of the berries plucked fresh from the vine. I collected a bowlful the other day, and Susan spiked some limeade with wine berries, resulting in a tasty, bright-red punch. If I get to work harvesting in earnest, I'd like try baking wineberry pie.
How much damage they've done to native species has been debated, but what's clear is that this raspberry cousin offers an abundance of sweet, melt-in-your-mouth berries this time of year.
Ripe berries just about fall off the plant—but beware the tiny thorns that line the canes.
So far, I've just eaten handfuls of the berries plucked fresh from the vine. I collected a bowlful the other day, and Susan spiked some limeade with wine berries, resulting in a tasty, bright-red punch. If I get to work harvesting in earnest, I'd like try baking wineberry pie.