berries

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Day five
Monday July 25th, 2011
near Jyvaskyla

Today was the day for berry picking. The forest abounds in berries and many Finns spend time in the forest gathering berries to preserve for the winter. We set off loaded with buckets, berry picking tools, gumboots, insect repellent and water. About a kilometre from here is a great spot for blueberries. We spent a couple of hours gathering the small morsels of goodness from the branches of the low growing bushes. That’s where you need to have a strong back, as moving along bent over to gather the berries from calf height does require some stamina. Lacking in myself I found as I needed to sit down or stand upright many times just to stretch and rest my back and thighs. We gathered a bit over half a bucket, and headed home. Aunt Eva headed off for some more picking in a bit more difficult to reach spot, which must have been untouched as she returned a bare hour later with a full bucket.

The berries then need to be cleaned, the bits of leaf and pine needles separated from the berries, and packaged for freezing. We kept a big bowlful for dessert.

In the evening we went for a sauna and a swim. A family of ducks came to the shore for some bread, and we fed them for a few minutes before mother duck called her ducklings to order, it’s time to go, and very obediently the youngsters followed their mum.

Dinner was superb as usual. A bolognese type sauce of deer meat. My uncle enjoys hunting in autumn, and they usually have a store of game meat for the year.
I couldn’t help but to think that I’m eating bambi. Damn, it tasted good.

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Comments

[pappa hilden]

wow!
I'm so happy that you finally made it to Finland after 37 years! We read all the entries and saw the pictures. Nice!

[Lynda Jelley]

Sari in Finland
Hi Sari awesome reading your blog, so glad to hear that you are having such a great time - it all sounds sooooo relaxing and to say the least that is what you were after - continue to enjoy with your family and outdoors with care Lynda