Phosphor wrote:

> i'd happily be enlightened on this matter. which tubers are we talking
> about? and what is the calendar procession of berry ripening? and which
> fruits?



In northern Illinois where I am from, wild fruiting starts
about June, with strawberries first. Next is raspberries in
late June early July, and blackberries in July. Mulberries
are also June to July.

Wild cherries are late July, and wild plums vary widely, the
earliest in July, but some lasting through August.

Apples (not wild) start in late June and run through the
freeze, in November, depending on the variety. Crab apples
are usually mid-summer fruits.

In the fall there are fewer fruits, most fruits are in the
summer. Late fall has wild nuts, walnuts are best, and
hickories where I am from. The acorns were inedible raw (and
pretty nasty cooked too, I tried). There are also wild
grapes in the late fall, and persimmons. These need a
freeze, or some kind of processing to make them good.

There are a lot of other wild berries and fruits that we
nibbled on, but they are not as good as the ones listed
above, so we didn't make any effort to get them, just
snacked occassionally if we happened to see them ripe.
Elderberries and gooseberries for example.

The earliest sugar comes from the sap rising in trees. As
kids we used to chop gashes (don't tell my Dad!) in the soft
maple trees and suck the sweet sap the flowed out. This
started while the last snow was still on the ground, about
February or March I guess.

So I get ten months when at least SOME sugar was available.
I imagine the natives would have known even better where the
seasonal foods were.

Of course, at the height of the glacier, my home was under a
mile of ice. Not a lot of fruit then!

But I think it is forgotten by some, that while the climate
was colder, the sunshine was the same. In the summer
southern Europe and southern US would have been bright and
warm. Plants were adapted to this regime, that is why most
fruits ripen in the mid summer. Fruits that ripen in the
fall are mainly imports from warmer climates, like grapes,
not true native wild plants.

I am guessing that south of the glacial edge, seasons were
only a few months shorter than now. I would be happy to see
some evidence on this either way.