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> I could not even try to discover which berries are edible without killing myself. Cluster berries, from raspberries to pineapples, are never poisonous. Avoid
by maxwell 5y ago
> I could not even try to discover which berries are edible without killing myself.
Cluster berries, from raspberries to pineapples, are never poisonous. Avoid berries that resemble blueberries or currants unless you're able to identify the plant: we grew up with blueberries and know the leaves, but we avoid anything currant-like because we'd have no idea if they're actually, say, chokeberries. Avoid anything that looks like baneberries.
Here in Maine, we forage for raspberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, and (mostly low bush) blueberries, but don't risk others.
- kiklion 5y ago> Cluster berries, from raspberries to pineapples, are never poisonous. I know nothing but that still seems too generalized that it doesn’t have an exception somewhere in the world.
- willcipriano 5y agoYou won't find enough berries, never mind edibles berries if everyone in your area suddenly shifted to foraging. Game animals would be exhausted quickly or they would migrate further out from human settlements. Even if you had the skills hunting or foraging isn't all that useful anywhere around a city, especially if everyone else is doing it.
- maxwell 5y agoTrue, fruit and nut-based food forests, like those in the Pacific Northwest [1], seem to provide a significant, sustainable food source. Berries make a nice dessert + vitamins a few times a year. Historically here in Maine, the core diet seems to have been seafood, freshwater fish, maize, Capreolinae, game birds, eggs, honey, roots, and greens. While only a tiny fraction of fish/seafood remain, deer are over-populated and make a fine sustainable food source, the limitation mostly being the contemporary appetite for venison. 1. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/indigenous-peoples-british-columbia-tended-forest-gardens-180977617/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/indigenous-peoples...
- Supermancho 5y agoThe edible himalayan blackberry infestation that plagues all of the coastal PNW is widely available. It's almost impossible to kill and it fruits for long periods of time.
- yottalove 5y agoOur Hoopa lived virtually exclusively on shellfish for hundreds of years.
- DebtDeflation 5y agoBlueberries are easy, they have a star shaped "opening" on the bottom. Native Americans called them starberries. No other berry is blue and has that. It's the only berry I trust myself to eat while I'm hiking.