I have probably picked my last billberry this year. We call them “blueberry” in norwegian and they are much smaller than the actual blueberries that we import. The billberry have much more taste and vitamin content than the culivated blueberry, and I like it a lot. I prepare it the same way as the cowberry, that is just crushing it together with some sugar and freeze what I can’t eat in a week or two. Our traditional way of eating it as dessert is fresh berries together with milk and sugar. Most other berries are eaten with cream or whipped cream.
The black crowberry, Empetrum nigrum, often grow in the same place as the billberries. They are completely black, not dark blue as the billberry, but it doesn’t matter if you pick the wrong one. Also the black crowberry (krekling) is edible. It has some small, bitter stones inside so we usually don’t use it as jam, but I have made cold pressed juice with this berry and it makes the most incredible juice. It is also very healthy like all these wild berries. There are more photos of wild berries in my photo gallery.
Thanks for the beautiful photos. I love blueberry, of course the true and smaller ones you can find in the woods. Have a nice weekend.
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Thanks Allesistgut, I tend to agree with you. Have a nice weekend you too.
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When will we be invited ??? :-)))
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Yes, I agree; I want to be invited too! ;OD
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The forest is open all year, Carllapierre and Janina.
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Lovely photos.
I love blueberries & your photos are making me hungry.
Shame we have to wait for summer to see blueberries in the shops.
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Around here they import them all year now, I believe. But I stick to the wild ones usually. Thanks Victoria.
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beautiful photos, have an inviting aspect 🙂
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I hope they invite you to go to the woods, there are a lot of treasures there, Lois.
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You’ve made me hungry ;~)
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Hungry for berries, maybe…
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Your photo joggled my memory 😉
I think I made a mistake, this one, bottom photo is Gankoran and
the last one was Koke-momo in Japanese.
Blue berry was called Kuromame-no-ki or Asama-budo.
In Japan, all those berries are only grown in high mountain hence remained as a
hidden delight of the mountain climber and not commercialized.
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There are and there should be hidden delights for mountain climbers, and the last one is never commercialized. I enjoy picking some when in the mountains, because the juice is so refreshing and nice. Difficult names in japanese, Yoshizen, but I guess that is because I don’t know japanese. Interesting.
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Because, Japanese too may be reading your blog.
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Beautiful photos Bente, particularly the first one. Love the reds framing the berry.
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I am glad you liked it, Finesse.
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They look just like the blueberries we have in the back field. I like the wild ones best, don’t you? Yesterday, I made a blueberry buckle out of store bought berries, and some of them huge.
That second shot looks like the Maine woods. I love your photos!
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Yes I like the wild ones, but I have very rarely tasted the cultivated ones. Except when they are used in factory cakes and muffins. I bake with the wild ones. Interesting that you have the same kind of woods and can go there picking. That is a great thing to do, to harvest. Thanks, Sandy, you know I adore your photos.
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I bet they’re delicious in pancakes!
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Delicious with pancakes, you are right, Mcolmo. Many people buy the factoru made blueberry jam for this.
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another beautiful set of images but loving the colours even more on the first one ♥ blueberries are so photogenic 🙂
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I am not sure they are so photogenic, since they are so dark, but I am glad you liked them, Gisele.
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In Scots we call bilberries ‘blaeberries’ – which also means blueberries. You only get them in certain places in the highlands, so I can’t recall if I’ve ever eaten them fresh (maybe when I was wee). I love your pictures – they make me long to go back to Norway. I only got to Oslo the last time.
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That is amazing, Schietree, because the norwegian name is exactly the same: blåbær (bær means berries). Probably learned the word from the vikings… 😉 Too bad you can no longer find them.
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Blàbär; det finns mycket man kan använda dessa till, en paj kan vara gott, eller sylt… Fina bilder ☺
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Tusen takk, maria, enig med deg: kan brukes til mye godt.
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I love berry season, it’s so sad to see the last one picked! Last year we were able to freeze about 40 gallons of our raspberries, it was a good winter treat, but not the sun warm fresh ones to be sure! I have never had luck with growing blueberries here in Montana … rats!
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40 gallons, I am not sure how much that is but it sounds an impressive lot of berries. Sun warm fresh ones are best, I can still find one or two both in my garden and wild ones, and I have some in my freezer. And I am not growing blueberries, Nancy, they are wild from the woods. That is I have two bushes american ones in my garden, but no berries yet..
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These are beautiful. I love the colors of the first photo.
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Thanks Tuxedo.
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Beautiful images, Bente
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Thanks, Andy.
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Beautiful photos! i especially love the last picture. It looks like a lot of fun there to pick them too!
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They are fun to pick, since I enjoy beeing outside doing things like this when the weather is alright. Thanks.
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The country side here in the mountains are filled with blueberry bushes…So many french people come out with buckets to collect them!!
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That sound nice. You don’t?
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My homegrown blueberries also taste better than the ones in the store. There’s nothing quite like picking them and popping them straight into my mouth. Others I just freeze and use them in oatmeal or muffins for when the season is over.
Your crowberries almost look like our huckleberries, but the leaves are different and our don’t have the stones. I also think ours are smaller. Amazing all the varieties of berries there are! And so good to eat!
Do you go mushroom hunting, too?
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It sounds you have a great garden, Gunta. Popping big blueberries every day must be great. Yes, I absolutely do mushroom hunting, I probably love it even more than berries. The strange thing is there are almost no mushrooms this year. That have never happended before in my region, as far as I can remember.
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I don’t know enough about mushrooms to hunt them here, but I do know it’s a favorite activity in Latvia. My friend who lives near the Atlantic coast picks them, but she said that this year she had very few of them, also.
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You’re such an amazing berry expert ! I’m impressed by the abundance of berries you’re able to get in your area.
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Yes, we are lucky in that way, but expert, I never thought about it that way. Before everybody knew these things, not so anymore.
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Beautiful shots, a shame that you can’t send the taste following the post… ‘smile’
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You have to imagine, Drakenoir, but I am sure you know already.
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Just from your photographs, I feel I can taste the luscious berries!
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Yet another blast from the past. I do love your blog. When we were children we were taken out for the day to pick billberries. To be honest it was probably a cheap day out for my parents but it was always exciting and a lot of fun. As always thanks for sharing. Have a great weekend.
Regards Florence x
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I live in New Jersey. The blueberry capital is the world, supposedly. I drive passed them in summer, growing like crazy. I smile every time I see them. Blueberry pie, blueberries in my cereal, BLUEBERRY ICE CREAM! When the season winds down I begin to whine! Oh yeah, blueberry wine!!! Can’t wait for summer! These pix are going to have to hole me over. 🙂 beautiful blueberries.
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All good things come to an end. Fortunately in this case it’s temporary. Next year I hope to be able to pick plenty of them again. 🙂
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Magnifiques myrtilles aussi belles en photo que bonnes sur une tarte !
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We have a close relative of your blueberry here, the huckleberry. I like it also with a little milk and sugar, and even better on ice cream.
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so artistic, especially the first one, I fall in love. Thank you dear Bente, have a nice autumn days, love, nia
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I particularly like the first shot
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You are so lucky to have wild blueberries with their wonderful nutritional value. Here in Hawaii there are none, so I must buy them frozen. But I love them for breakfast every morning with cottage cheese. Lovely photos.
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These are wonderful pictures, Bente. So appetizing!!
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Beautiful photos! And yes, they do remind me of the time back home when we use to be all over the forest picking blueberries. Marvellous days 🙂
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Mouthwatering photos! Prompted me to immediately think of my favorite pie. My wife’s recipe follows for those who truly love blueberries and pies:
Bluebery Glaze Pie (requires 4 1/2 cups blueberries)
Prepare glaze as follows:
1 ½ cup blueberries
¾ cup water
Bring to boil, cook gently about 4 minutes
Add 1 tablespoon butter
Mix:
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Dash of salt
Add dry mixture to hot blueberry mixture, stirring constantly. Cook slowly until thick and clear. Remove from heat, add 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Pour over 3 cups raw blueberries, mix gently. Turn into 9-inch baked pie shell. Refrigerate or leave at room temperature. Serve with sweetened whipped cream.
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Your mouth watering photos bring back delicious memories from southern Quebec
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I have never picked the crowberry. They grow here, but not very abundantly. I may have to give them a try now.
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