I didn't realise how much the kids look forward to them each year as well until today.
For those that have never tried them, Japanese Wineberries grow much like a blackberry and taste like a slightly "winey", sticky, sweet raspberry. The best thing about them is the birds seem to leave them alone! They taste amazing and have beautiful red stems that stand out all winter. Why they're not more popular is something I just can't work out.
I spotted a load ripe in our large bush and went and picked a few. A more naughty and selfish part of my brain thought that if I didn't tell anyone about them then maybe I could just eat them all myself for the next few weeks. But then my softer side kicked in and I brought a handful in to the kids.
Next thing I knew they were stood out there with a punnet each trying to get as many as they could. To show how keen they were they were pretty much stood in a patch of nettles to do this! They're a great little pack though and I saw some great sharing as they did this as my boy can't reach as high as the girls.
They saved enough that they had a little "bake off" in the afternoon where they both decided to cook different cakes and then decorate them with wineberries. I forgot to take any pictures but the cakes were amazing, decorated with these delicate fruits.
So by letting them have some fruit I ended up with cake! I guess that's good karma at work!
Who else grows and loves these berries?
Here in the states wineberry is an invasive species, displacing many natural brambles. Several states consider them noxious enough to have made selling/dealing in wineberry plants illegal. Enjoy your bounty. I'll stick with blackberries. :-D
ReplyDeleteI see that connecticut and Massachusetts consider it a noxious weed. But I've never seen it in the wild in the UK or at least not yet. It's something I'll bare in mind though, thank you for pointing it out. I'll keep an eye out to make sure they only grow where I plant them. I currently have them in two places. I have some blackberries that are probably 20ft high in the front garden so hopefully they won't compete with these.
DeleteThanks for sharing Kris. I live in PA and have never heard of them or seen them for sale... maybe now I know why?
DeleteMaybe I missed it but do the plants have thorns?
I've spent a good portion of my life between Western and Central PA and never saw them until I moved to the southeastern corner of the state.
DeleteHere, wineberries are in every patch of woods of appreciable size. Every state park, along every roadside with enough trees.
They are delicious, but fall apart easily, are sticky, and have large seeds which makes them less ideal for jams, baking, and smoothies (but they are excellent fresh or frozen).
Japanese wine berry, Japanese knotweed, both invasive plants??
ReplyDeleteVery different plants I can assure you. I've not found them invasive at all so far. In a garden environment they're fine. I wouldn't recommend planting them in wood land where they can be left to their own devises.
DeleteIf deer eat the berries, they invade quickly with their fast growth rate, even from seed.
DeleteSource: every garden bed on my property, in the middle of my lawn, literally everywhere the animals go...