The Indian Plum (osoberry, bear berry) has ripened and gone in our woods, but I managed to pick some this year before the birds got them all! Normally, the birds and bears get to them before I realize they’re ripe, so I was very pleased with myself. I wrote about the shrub a couple of years ago, Indian Plum: The Herald of Spring, while I was appreciating the flowers, but now I can say from experience that the fruit is equally worthy of appreciation.
A friend was visiting and noticed them near our chicken coop, so I picked a bowl and proceeded to look through all the recipes I had filed away for future use. A lot of the jam and jelly recipes involved a lot of work and de-pitting that I did not have time for with our Waldorf graduation going on, so I decided to try a recipe for Osoberry Shrub from Gather Victoria. As it turns out, shrub is not just something that grows in the woods, it’s a traditional fruit and vinegar beverage for flavoring drinks. Some friends of ours brought over a Soda Stream recently with several flavors of shrub, including beet and blackberry and made natural sodas for the kids and cocktails for the adults. It was a big hit. I decided with summer coming up, it would be nice to have something wildcrafted in the fridge for making refreshing drinks with, so I gave it a go. It was very easy, and yielded a very earthy, tangy flavor. It will be just the right thing for a hot day.
Here is a link to the recipe:
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