Via Oregon - September/October 2020 - 42

Berries
Editor's note: Some of the sites mentioned in this
story may be closed in response to the Covid-19
pandemic. Before you go, please confirm the status
and hours of any place you plan to visit.

Blackberries linger into
September across western
Oregon. OPPOSITE: Salal
berries thrive in thickets all
over the coast; a local picks
a bucketful of blackberries.

ild berries thrive all over Oregon's
coastal public lands, which feature diverse ecosystems and terrain.
Red and black evergreen huckleberries,
night-blue salal berries, crimson thimbleberries, sunset-colored salmonberries,
and amaranthine blackberries abound.
Many ripen by mid-July, with salmonberries and red huckleberries hitting their
peak first. Evergreen huckleberries, salal
berries, and blackberries often persist
into September.
The trek south along the 6.5-mile Fort
to Sea Trail, from the re-created fort of
the Corps of Discovery to Sunset Beach,
north of Gearhart, affords hikers ample
opportunities to pick handfuls of berries.
Crossing land once frequented by Clatsop
hunters and gatherers, we easily spot various leathery-leaved bushes-some tower-

V I A | S E PT E M B E R + O CTO B E R 2 0 2 0

ing, some squat and compact-filled with
tiny, sweet-tart huckleberries.
Our guide, Matt Nevitt, explains why
foraging is so appealing-and his life's
work. He says his goal is "to raise awareness
of the wonderful wild foods on the lower
Columbia River among chefs and home
cooks." His business, Forage & Farm, supplies wild-crafted provisions each week to
subscribers in the area through a community supported agriculture program, and
he also leads walks and gives demonstrations related to wild foods.
Nevitt seems aghast when I ask why
anyone would bother foraging for berries in a state that cultivates such amazing ones. "Buying berries at a farm stand
is great, but it's not an event," he says.
"Picking berries is one of the most fun
things you can do. You eat more than you
take home, plus [you get] all the benefits
of being in the forest and exercise on a
wonderful outing."
He rhapsodizes about huckleberry
pancakes and his mom's wild berry fruit

Via Oregon - September/October 2020

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