Pickers point way to bounty of fresh berries

Lower Mainland sources for berries'}

By Janet Collins

Emma-Lea Farms
2727 Westham Island Road, Delta
604-946-8216
Strawberries, raspberries, tayberries, blueberries, blackberries, and blackcurrants

Driediger Farms
23823 72nd Avenue, Langley
604-888-1665
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, red currants, and blackcurrants

Krause Berry Farms
6179 248 Street, Langley
604-856-5757
Strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries

Fraser Valley Farm Direct Marketing Association
A great resource for U-pick and farm-gate locations and other information on locally made preserves, fruit wines, cheeses and other dairy products, eggs, Christmas trees and bedding plants, honey, baked goods, livestock and meat products, and more.

Fraser Valley Strawberry Growers Association
General information about the local strawberry crop, as well as links to member Web sites.

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Few things capture the flavour of early summer days quite like a handful of fresh berries. Just ask Jean Begg. The Vancouver resident has enjoyed picking sun-ripened wild berries for most of her 81 years, whether amid the blueberries around Goldie Lake on Mount Seymour or on the strawberry flats of Manning Park.

“There are some lovely spots here in the city too,” Begg adds, citing the brambles along the old rail bed in the Arbutus corridor and the laneways of Blenheim and Balaclava streets as some of her favourite blackberry-foraging locations. “In these days of economic hardship, I’m surprised more people aren’t picking wild berries,” she says. “They’re very nutritious, and they’re free. But then I’m a child of the [Second World] War, so I’m quite used to economizing.”

While it’s hard to resist the lure of free fresh fruit, Begg advises you to be mindful of what and where you pick. For example, don’t pick anything unfamiliar—it might be poisonous. And keep off private land unless you have permission to pick there. Also, berries within range of a dog’s raised leg are best avoided, just in case. Same goes for any that might have been sprayed by a homeowner wanting to keep aggressive brambles from invading their property. (Murray Wightman, manager of street operations for the City of Vancouver, confirms that the city doesn’t spray blackberry bushes, instead cutting back any foliage that blocks sightlines.)

No matter where you choose to pick—a city lane or a hiking trail in the local mountains—there are ways to enjoy the harvest with minimal prickle encounters. “There’s an art to doing it properly,” Begg says of berry picking. In addition to wearing appropriate clothing (long sleeves and pants, possibly a windbreaker to help ward off the prickles), she suggests taking along a walking stick to hold back outer branches so fruit that’s nearer to the centre of bristle-covered bushes is easier to reach. A pair of clippers also comes in handy for cutting away any dead and barren vines that stand between you and your bounty.

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More of Summer in the City 2009

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If you can’t wait for late summer’s blackberry season or aren’t into urban foraging, not to worry. Farmers markets are kicking into gear right about now with early strawberries, as are many regional farm-gate stands. Or, you can always pick your own at farms open to U-pickers. This cuts the farmer’s labour costs, so it’s often a cheaper option. Plus, you can be assured the fruit is as fresh as it can be.

Begg often heads for Emma-Lea Farms on Westham Island Road in Delta (near the Reifel bird sanctuary) when she’s looking to pick cultivated crops. “It’s such a beautiful spot,” she says. “It only takes 20 minutes to get there, but it looks and feels like it is miles away from Vancouver.”

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