I imagine if I were a boreal cavegal, it would be my job to pick all the
berries I could when they were in season. Not only do they dry easily
under the midnight sun for later use, but the whole cave family would
eat as many as possible while they were available, knowing the season
wouldn't come again for a year. That's what it's about, especially in
the sub-Arctic and Arctic regions: gorging on the high-carb foods of
summer to put on the fat stores to see you through the winter. They
follow the example of the wildlife they depend on. Bears don't get
tired of salmon and berries, so why would they? When "the berry store
is open," you eat berries...simple as that! Modern man is the one who
thinks you have to eat something different every day. I tbelieve
northern paleo man ate what he had available as long as he had it to
eat, especially the summer foods.
Today, Alaska Native women that still practice their cultural ways will
pick gallons of berries, day after day. They didn't learn it from me;
the practice has been handed down through the generations. They wouldn't
ignore such a plentiful source of energy and vitamins as blueberries
because they "got tired" of eating them. I just can't conceive of that
being an issue.
On the coast, berries are also combined with whale or seal oil and
stirred (more like beaten into submission) into a mixture known today as
Eskimo Ice Cream. I'm not sure how long the berries keep that way, but
it sure makes for concentrated nutrition that would put on fat stores in
the summer and fall to help see you through a cold winter.
Lisa in Alaska
On 3/4/2014 2:25 PM, Jim Swayze wrote:
> So imagine you’re feral Lisa. How much do you think you’d eat per day if you were out there in the wild? And after how many days might you get tired of eating berries?
>
> On Mar 4, 2014, at 5:22 PM, Lisa Sporleder <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> Blueberries and raspberries start in earnest by mid-July. I usually start rosehips in early to mid August, and lingonberries by the end of August. The seasons overlap. I've got some kind of wild berry to pick for two months straight. Lingonberries stay on the bushes even longer, but I usually draw the line at having to brush aside falling leaves or early snow to find them. ;-)
>>
>> On 3/4/2014 2:12 PM, Jim Swayze wrote:
>>> How long does a berry season last, Lisa?
>>>
>>> On Mar 4, 2014, at 5:05 PM, Lisa Sporleder <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Two cups a day? I have to respectfully disagree with this one. I do a LOT of wild berry picking every summer.
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