Nancy Hindes often finds wild creeping raspberries while walking along the road in front of her home south of Coupeville on Washington’s Whidbey Island.
“It grows along the ground. It’s not a very dominant plant, but I think it really likes gravelly soil, and that’s why it grows right next to the road,” she says, cautioning those unfamiliar with the wild plant to take care. “It will trip you.”
In summer, she keeps an eye out for its bright red fruit. “It’s one of the best raspberries I’ve ever eaten. It’s very sweet and very flavorful. When I see it, I’ll stop and have a … » More …
Black chokeberries (Aronia melanocarpa)—A great natural source of pectin, these tart, dark berries are perfect for processing into jam and jelly.
Black hawthorn (Crataegus douglasii)—These tart reddish purple berries—best in jam, jelly, sauce, and vinegar—are prevalent west of the Cascade Range in damp clearings and thicket margins.
Black huckleberries (Vaccinium membranaceum)—These are among the tastiest and most popular berries in the Pacific Northwest.
Blackcap raspberries (Rubus leucodermis)—Unlike blackberries, these berries have a hollow middle, like … » More …
Matt Carroll studies people’s connections to land, particularly fire risk and human communities throughout the West. But he’s also researched an important Washington state staple: the wild huckleberry.
He’s a professor and associate director of graduate programs in the School of the Environment at Washington State University’s College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. While most of his work centers around wildfires, he has also examined the social ecology of the huckleberry in and around the Colville and Panhandle National Forests in northeast Washington and northern Idaho.
“Huckleberries have a very deep history in our region,” Carroll says. “Indigenous people … » More …
They seem native, growing wild wherever they want, thriving along riverbanks, roads, railroad tracks, and trails; inside state, county, even Seattle city parks.
These abundant berries—great for pie and jam—are synonymous with summer in Washington state, particularly on the west side, where they take over greenbelts and backyards, abandoned lots, urban alleyways, and logged lands.
They grow, as it were, like weeds.
Emphasis on weeds.
Himalayan blackberries (Rubus armeniacus) are not only not native, they’re invasive. And they’re not actually Himalayan.
Call them the state weed of Washington. The plump, juicy, deep purple, and delicious weed of Washington.
Almost a year has passed since the pandemic stalked its way around the globe. It’s astounding to me how so much could get turned around and topsy-turvy so quickly. Across the country and Washington state, though, we’ve witnessed people persevere in the face of tragedy and hardship, finding hope and sharing comfort.
It’s a struggle everywhere. We spoke to Cougars around the world about their pandemic experiences, from Nikola Koprivica (’10 Intl. Busi.) in Serbia to Nicola Perera (’15 MA English) in Sri Lanka, and many countries in between. Their stories reflect our own in the United States, and it comes back to adapting … » More …
Washington State University journalism alumni braved the Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Los Angeles, and other cities to get the story and the heart of the matter. » More ...
