Berry Picking on Westham Island
We went to the Emma Lea (I assume it’s pronounced like ‘Emily’) U-Pick farm in Westham Island, which is really part of Delta, a very rural suburb of Vancouver (these days those kinds of areas are called ex-urbs, which is to designate a suburb that is so far away that its no longer as tied to the city that it is supposed to be the ‘bedroom community’ of.
After picking up Oana’s friend Christine in New West Minster, we drove down past several farms, over a 1-car-at-a-time bridge, and turned right into a farm stand and U-Pick. Although strawberries are pretty much over,( I did manage to simply buy a bunch at the end) the berries that were ready this weekend were all exotically named cousins of the blackberry (and perhaps raspberry) family: Tayberries, Merrion Berries (no, that is not a joke) and Boysenberries. I had never heard of the first two varieties. As for the third one, I believe that the only Boysenberry anything I’ve ever had was the syrup at IHOP, which was just another sugary-sweet blueish coloured and sticky liquid.
The Tayberry, according to Wikipedia is a cross between a Loganberry and a raspberry. It is a long-ish berry, bigger and more cone shaped than a raspberry, and the ripest ones were said to be dark purple. It tasted a bit sour, but milder than a blackberry. As for the Merrion Berry, (not only is it similar in name to the Coke-snorting mayor of Washington DC, but according to Google it’s also the name of an Adult Film Star who’s credits include “The Oral Adventures of Craven Moorehead”). Other than that, as Jon Stewart says, ‘I got nothing.”
We got back at about 3:30, and had some late lunch (we were starving). Tonight I’ll try making a dessert with some of the berries, without being too fussy as to which is which. I’m thinking of using my Blueberry Buckler recipe, as this particular fruit dish reminds me of summers at the Walden School in Vermont/New Hampshire, where I’ve always assumed this dish hails from.
