Berry Picking
Berries are one of the many foods gathered in preparation for the winter months ahead.
Berry picking is a process which our parents and grandparents taught the children how and when they are ready to be picked. They were taught to look for the white flowers to bloom. Once the flowers bloomed, they were then told to watch for the bees. The bees would pollinate the flowers and they would start to bloom in late spring. At the beginning of summer that’s when the families gather together for a day of berry picking. This became a fun family activity which still today lives on.
Birch bark baskets were used to put the berries in as the families gathered them. Berries would be eaten fresh from the fields throughout the picking day. The berries were collected to use in recipes such as pies and jams; they were also used in some ceremonies.
These teaching that have been handed down from generation to generation, and today families still go out picking a variety of berries like strawberries, raspberries and blueberries every summer.