A sun-drenched summer day, the two of us out hunting for wild strawberries. 2025 was quite a summer for those sugary little beauties and we came upon the biggest ones we’ve ever found. In searching favorite places, we also kept coming across wineberries (aka nagoonberries) – Merlot-colored tart gems that are hard to pass up even when we already have “enough” of them. They are prized for having a unique flavor that evokes a mixture of raspberry, strawberry and something else – something bright and wild not found in cultivated fruit. After a morning of foraging, we stopped for a picnic lunch at an empty campground next to a large pond. Our only dining company was a curious beaver who gave the water a quick tail whack as he swam by. After lunch, we decided to see what was growing along the forested shore. Lo and behold, a bush laden with huge, ripe blueberries!

We put aside a gallon of wild strawberries, wineberries, and blueberries from this day, frozen for later processing into a jam of memories. Today as I worked in the kitchen, steady snowfall blanketed the quiet landscape.

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