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Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

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‘Little wilds’ a little harder to get

Sweet breed of blackberry no longer free for the picking on private timberlands

The Columbian
Published:

Aberdeen — If sinking your fork into a warm slice of “little wild” blackberry pie is as summer to you as fireworks and a sun tan, then you won’t take kindly to this news:

Little wild blackberry pies may be out of reach this summer.

“We don’t have enough for pies this year,” Nancy Lachel explained early Wednesday morning while mixing up fresh peach pie filling at the Grays Harbor Farmers Market kitchen. “I can make jam this year, that’s it, I don’t have enough of the little wild blackberries to make pies.”

Duffy’s Restaurant proprietor Ralph Larson — a second generation owner of the popular family restaurant — echoed the concern.

“We’ll have pies this year, but we’re working with about one third of our typical volume (of berries),” Larson explained. “And we paid more this year too.”

Lachel has paid the most for her supply of the special breed of berry this year than in years past. For a very long time, she was able to get all that she needed each year at a rate of about $3.50 per pound. Last year, that crept up to $4 and this year, it peaked at $4.25 per pound.

Though blackberries continue to be plentiful in the region, it must be said, the tradition has always been tied to the coveted little wild blackberry. Still, the less-sumptuous Himalayan blackberry is accessible almost anywhere.

“I can only make jelly with the Himalayan,” Lachel groused.

Both Larson and Lachel directly related the cause of the shortage to area timber companies’ decisions to gate and require permits on their previously open properties. Traditionally, the cut-over landscapes of timber company properties were left open to the public and were ideal breeding grounds for the fast-growing, low to the ground bramble bush.

“I remember heading out, the whole family, early in the morning and picking in nearby Brooklyn until I couldn’t stand the heat anymore,” Larson mused. “Just not the same anymore. It’s really sad.”

“I just got an order for 14 pies; they wanted most of them to be the little wild blackberry. I had to break it to them gently,” Lachel said, noting that every day a customer asks after one of her popular blackberry pies.

The tradition of blackberry in today’s culinary circles dates back to the early days of our country. European settlers recognized the juicy berry from their homeland and — unlike other natural plants they encountered here — knew exactly what to do with the nourishing berry. Many shipped in and planted their homeland plants for good measure, while other settlers preferred the natural plants instead.

The “little wild,” as it is commonly referred to today, has its origins throughout the West. Officially, the Rubus ursinus is a species of blackberry (aka dewberry) that those south of Washington call the California blackberry, Douglas berry or Pacific blackberry. In Washington, it has a short time on the vine — just the month of July — and a brief lifespan in the field. It grows close to the forest bed and thrives in areas that are open to the sun. That’s how cut-over properties became a favorite picking spot for local residents, and the tradition of the little wild blackberry developed. While national and state parks also have berries free for the picking, it’s the little wild that became coveted because it was found only in harvested, open properties. The berry bush grows fast and plentiful up stumps and continues to spread until the growth of trees around it effectively snuffs out the vine.

Families who made harvesting the sweet berry part of their summer tradition grew up knowing that each summer, this crop was theirs for the picking.

Unfortunately, companies that own that land disagree.

“Offering permits for access to our property isn’t new for us,” explained Weyerhaeuser spokesman Anthony Chavez. “We’ve been successfully delivering a permit program to residents near our 4 million acres of land in the southern U.S. for over 10 years.”

But, he conceded, “the permit process in Washington, and especially in Aberdeen, is experiencing some growing pains,” which the company hopes will smooth out over time. The permit program is, in Chavez’s words, “a last-ditch solution” to the ongoing litter problem on their properties. Faced with an annual clean-up budget of nearly $100,000 in Washington, the company felt that by “vetting those allowed on the property,” they could also cap the dump dropped on their land each year.

“Introducing permits here in Washington has achieved its intended goal thus far,” Chavez said, “Our permitees report that the land is cleaner, more pleasant to be on.”

Weyerhaeuser is not alone. Timber companies throughout the state now rely on the permit process for recreational access to all of their properties. Weyerhaeuser began their permit process in Aberdeen in 2013, and today offers a few options: $50 for a year of non-motorized access, $75 for a year of motorized access. Berries and mushrooms can be harvested for personal use, capped at 3 gallons of berries in a year, per person.

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For years, Lachel has counted on local, usually immigrant families to deliver a seasonal haul of 500 to 800 pounds of fresh, wild blackberries. Today, however, with permits becoming cost prohibitive, her harvest is trickling in from various strangers and one-time-only vagrants not connected to the community.

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