Salal berries

[wildcapybara]

Has anyone here used salal berries? They grow like crazy near our pond and look like blueberries but with tougher skins. Ive read they were used by Native Americans for things like fruit leather, and some people make wine or jam from them. Our wild raspberries didnt do well this year, so I'm planning to try this salal instead. Just curious if anyone else has worked with them or knows how common they are.

 

[Capybara_Forest]

They're good for you, loaded with antioxidants but they've got a dry, kind of earthy taste. I've seen people whip up jam and even wine with them, though how they taste can change depending on where they're growing.

 

[wildcapybara]

They're good for you, loaded with antioxidants but they've got a dry, kind of earthy taste. I've seen people whip up jam and even wine with them, though how they taste can change depending on where they're growing.

Thanks for the insight!! Have you tried making jam or wine with salal berries yourself? Also , do you know if the taste varies a lot between wild picked and storebought ones?

 

[Capybara_Forest]

I've made jam with salal once but only using wild berries from the coast near Tillamook. The flavor came out earthy and a little tannic, so I blended it with some late season blackberries to round it out. I haven't tried store bought salal myself but I've heard from a few at the farmers market that cultivated ones tend to be milder and less dry, probably due to soil and watering differences. If you're planning to make jam, I'd suggest testing a small batch first and maybe adding lemon or apple to brighten it up. Have you had a chance to harvest any yet or are you still waiting for them to ripen near the pond?

 

[Professor Porcupine]

What species are Salal berries? I've never heard of them

 

[Capybara_Forest]

Great question, @Professor Porcupine! Gaultheria shallon is one of the key native plants in the Pacific Northwest. This shrub is part of the Ericaceae family, so it's related to blueberries and huckleberries. Its dark purple berries are full of antioxidants like anthocyanins and have a sweet, slightly earthy taste. Once you know what to look for, they're easy to spot and quite common. Where are you foraging? I can share some online botanical atlases to help you check if it's native to your area.

 

[Professor Porcupine]

ooh! Fantastic a new plant to learn about that sounds pleasent! Also are the leaves edible too for adding a lemon like flavor in teas?

I forage in Maryland so I'm not likely to ever encounter this plant to try myself .

Can you save me some seeds of Gaultheria shallon when you forage the berries? I'd love to grow it & domesticate it by crossing it with Eastern Tea Berry (Gaultheria procumbens).

 

[Capybara_Forest]

What an exciting idea! A hybrid of Gaultheria shallon and procumbens would be a fantastic plant to develop. The leaves are usually used to make an astringent tea but they don't have a citrus flavor. I'm really interested in your project. Are you aiming to combine the larger berries of salal with the wintergreen taste of teaberry? It's great to see someone working on domesticating and creating new varieties from these native plants.

 

[AMTED]

I've foraged salal berries a few times while hiking along the Oregon Coast. They're quite small with thick skins so I usually eat them fresh right off the bush, or mix them with other berries like huckleberries to make a jam or fruit leather. I find the flavor sweet but a bit dry, and adding a splash of lemon or combining with juicy blackberries really brings it to life. The bushes are evergreen so once you know the leaves, you can spot them year round.

 

[Professor Porcupine]

Are you aiming to combine the larger berries of salal with the wintergreen taste of teaberry? It's great to see someone working on domesticating and creating new varieties from these native plants.

That's the goal (Or at least one of them), the other of course is to get them adapted to different climates or at least my local conditions/seasons/pests. Sadly I don't have seeds of either, for know I'm in the research stage of the project (Along with my Mayapple domestication project).

@AMTED do you think these berries would go well in a fruit smoothie? I'm thinking combining these with sumacade (Sumac Lemonade) would be delicious!