Like many other Portlanders, I have a great love for Mt. Hood, originally known as "Wy'East" by the Multnomah Native Americans. Back in my college days, I took a Geography of Mt. Hood course. The course was an adventure I'll never forget, and, since then, I've been fascinated by wild food sources. The stories of Lewis and Clark surviving on the food sources the Mt. Hood National Forest provided is especially cool to Oregonians.
But recently and unexpectedly, I had a pleasant surprise: I went on a local nature trek, and came across a path which led into a grove. The grove had a relatively clear path, and many different native plants were surrounding the area. After inspecting a particular berry bush, I was happy to realize the bush was a wild Thimbleberry bush; its berries not yet ripe. Near the Thimbleberry bush, however, was a Salmonberry bush, and its berries were ripe and juicy for eating. While the taste of Salmonberry has a more "relaxed" palate, Thimbleberry has an especially delicious taste. Furthermore, Thimbleberry is known to have medicinal properties. Unfortunately, the wild berries are seemingly scant.
I think there's something especially pleasurable about forging natural food sources. Foraging, I think, allows one to be in-tune with nature, and also, perhaps, able to be a little self-sufficient.
Rubus spectabilis (Salmonberry).
If interested, and for more information, please check out the books:
Wild Berries of the West by Betty B. Derig, Margaret Fuller, c2001
Edible and Medicinal Plants of the West by Gregory L. Tilford, c1997
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