Yellow Bird: A short but sweet wild fruit season

"In the fall of the year, I wonder why the past plays so well in my mind — the summer imprint is evident. Maybe it's because I can see the passing of time so readily in the harvesting of ummer's wild fruit.

This year, the seasons were most apparent in the tasks I didn't complete. In our region — the Dakotas and Minnesota — it's always a scramble to complete the harvest of wild fruit in the short summer.

Wild fruit ripens at its own pace.

Juneberries were early this year because it was warm and rainy. I didn't get any and had to resort to buying from the Hutterites, who always have juneberries because they have an orchard. I visited them one year for a "Prairie Voices" interview and saw the trees.

Then, when the chokecherries followed, they came too quickly — and as quickly as they came, they seemed to turn into bird food just as fast."

Get the Story:
Wild fruit season: Short but sweet (The Grand Forks Herald 9/15)
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