Donal Hickey: Spotted any wild raspberries yet?
Donal Hickey: "In folklore, wild raspberries are identified with love, kindness and fertility, due to being slightly heart-shaped and red in colour. They are believed to have protective qualities because of their prickly brambles, and were used in herbal medicine."
Wild berries appear to be doing very well this summer, most likely due to the heat and reasonable moisture levels.
A glance at brambles on the ditches reveals what promises to be a bountiful blackberry harvest. Far less noticeable, however, are wild raspberries, which are not nearly as plentiful.
Farmer John O’Connor, from the Sliabh Luachra area, straddling counties Cork and Kerry along the upper reaches of the River Blackwater, tells us such raspberries growing on ditches in his land are ripe for the picking: “They ripen around the first of July and are very edible, smaller than the cultivated raspberry and not quite as sweet, but still very tasty."
John believes these raspberries are more widespread than people realise, but might be covered over by other vegetation on the ditches and therefore difficult to see.
They can also be found on riverbanks, roadsides, woodland and waste ground, and should not be confused with cultivated raspberries which may have escaped from gardens.
In folklore, wild raspberries are identified with love, kindness and fertility — due to being slightly heart-shaped and red in colour. They are believed to have protective qualities because of their prickly brambles, and were used in herbal medicine.
But, like berries generally in Ireland, they are also thought to be a target of that mischievous fairy, the púca / pooka, who is blamed for tainting berries at a late stage of ripeness by spitting, or urinating, on them.
The Practical Herbalist website says that by the European Middle Ages raspberry was accepted as a favourite women’s tonic, being used to soothe many complaints of the fertile years. In early Christian artwork, raspberries were used to symbolise goodness.
Native peoples of the Americas recognised wild raspberry’s powerful medicinal and protective properties.
Looking at the bigger picture, in recent years there has been something of a revival in foraging — searching for food growing in the wild. Think of nettle soup which is cropping up on restaurant menus more often as well as being made by people at home.
All this comes with a health warning — you need to know what can be harmful, or poisonous, with some varieties of mushroom coming to mind straight away.
Lucianne Hare, of Wilderness Ireland, says anyone can enjoy seeking out natural treasures with the right attitude, guidance and research: “This exchange in energy replenishes not only your body, but your mind, too, and nurtures that feeling of being at one with the Earth."
“Ireland, though small, provides an oasis for foragers, be it a new hobby, or a lifelong passion. Ireland is home to an abundance of edible, robust perennial plants and weeds and has a rich variety of coastal vegetation and seaweed."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
