Black bear eeeees

Black bear eeeees

The berries are exploding out of the earth. I remember reading once that a grizzly can eat 250,000 berries a day, which blows my mind. The bear is truly the master forager. 

Unlike our delicate skin, bears are designed with tough, thick, fur to prevent the scratches from these thorny berry plant tricksters.

As we make our way through a wild raspberry patch, I think about designing a bear suit with air conditioning for our foraging crew. 

I call, “Let’s gather these suckers up and get a syrup ready for lunch with raspberry herb soda on the menu today!” 

We pick some thyme and rosemary from our small garden with fresh herbs. Then we stop at the dry shack, hang our recently harvested clover and oregano. We take some that’s already dry along with some Nootka rose hips recently processed in a spring forage. 

Salmon, raspberry wine sauce, German butter potatoes, and wild green salad are on the menu this evening. But first we hit the ocean side patio for some refreshments. One of our forgers, Tanya, has just made a raspberry, rosemary and rose soda that even teaches me a lesson in flavour. I love my job.

“Tanya, one more please!” 

Thimble berries are delicate, but we managed to gather enough to spread on our carefully charred bread with cured duck, honey, and pepper for an appetizer while we shared highlights from our excursion. Sharon laughs excitedly when I remind everyone of the baby black bear butt we saw wiggling in the berry bushes.