Not everything around here grows in pots!
Osso, or “Indian,” plum. Edible…but I really don’t recommend it. A berry flavor, followed by a big astringent finish (kind of like bitter cucumber.) These tiny plums are mostly pit- the seed is about the same size as a cherry’s. Once the fruit turns dark and soft, it quickly falls off the branch, so it can be hard to make a harvest of these anyway. These are the first things to bloom in our woods though, with little white flowers popping out in February, followed by leaves. They look so pretty in the otherwise bare woods. They grow, and spread, like mad though.
Our backyard is almost ringed by wild, “Himalayan,” blackberries. Non-native, these take over city lots, grow through sidewalks, and have spines that will tear through your jeans, they’ve generally entrenched themselves in the local ecosystem. The berries sure are delicious, though.
The “big mushrooms” are still going strong, even though I keep kicking them over. This time, it’s just one, but what a monster!
Wild red huckleberries. Generally these grow out of old stumps and fallen logs, from seeds deposited by birds. The berry load is so skimpy, I don’t have the heart to pull off the few berries and deprive the birds. When I was a kid we had a few really huge bushes around the yard, and we’d spend hours picking enough of the tiny berries to make a batch of Mom’s famous “huckleberry muffins.” (Betty Crocker’s blueberry muffin recipe, with as many berries as the batter will hold, and all of the sugar it calls for.)
Tree canopy over the back half of my yard. This is why my garden has been in pots, set around the yard to catch the available sunlight! It sure is nice and cool back there in the summer though.
Not technically “wild” but we have a few compost piles stashed around the property- this was squares of sod from the front yard, stacked upside down. They’ve composted quickly.
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