Today I went out into the urban homestead and had a huge Spring Harvest of Unusual Edible Plants. I picked Sweet Scarlet Goumis, Nanking Bush Cherry, and strawberries. The bush in the below picture is one of ten nanking bush cherries I put in two years ago. This bush has been trimmed twice now to take cuttings for plant propagation.
Unusual Edible Plants – Nanking Bush Cherry
From this one bush I picked the nanking cherries shown below. The other nanking bush cherries are not ripe yet, so I will get to spread the harvest out.
Unusual Edible Plants – Nanking Bush Cherries
I picked the fruit around 7 AM this morning, washed it, bagged it, and took it into work. I let several people try it. Some said they were too sour and some folks said they liked them. The flavor is kind of a cross of sweet and sour cherries. You can read more about this plant and the fruit at Nanking Bush Cherry Plant Information.
When I arrived home from work this evening I went out to the Sweet Scarlet Goumi plant and harvested about four dozen of the fruit. The picture of the fruit is below. Some of the fruit is a little shriveled up and I will need to discard that. Sweet Scarlet Goumi has a pit like the cherries and the fruit is a little sour and quite astringent.
Unusual Edible Fruit – Sweet Scarlet Goumi
I took a picture of a couple of the fruit next to a penny so you can see how large they are. They are smaller than a cherry. You can read more about goumis at Sweet Scarlet Goumi Plant Information.
Sweet Scarlet Goumi Fruit
On To Strawberries
After the sweet scarlet goumi, I went out and harvested strawberries. While strawberries are not unusual edible plants, they are still a wonderful addition to the urban homestead. When you grow them at home and pick them when they are ripe on the vine, they taste so much sweeter than they do from the store.
Not so Unusual Edible Plants
As I wandered around the yard I noticed that the Rainier Cherries and the Sour cherries are starting to ripen. Again, they are not unusual edible plants, but like strawberries, they taste so much better when they ripen on the tree and are washed and eaten immediately.
Cherry
I have not picked any of the cherries from the trees yet. I have plenty to eat for the next couple of days.
Some other unusual edible plants that will be ripening soon include Illinois Everbearing Mulberry, Red and Black Currants, Golden Raspberries, Nanking Cherries from the other bushes and others as we approach summer.
Please give us your thoughts on Spring Harvest of Unusual Edible Plants by commenting below.
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