The Free Radical

(Sugar Mountain by Neil Young from his 1979 album Live Rust)

Typically, bears aren’t known for their subtlety and stealth… but I was happy nevertheless to detect this singular sign in the dust upon the Mesa. A single footprint near the raspberry profusion hints at the possibility of a meeting in the near future!

The raspberries are just coming ripe now, and after the prolific flowering season we’ve had, the prospect for an incredible harvest is hungrily anticipated. Yeah, they’re a bit smaller than the domestic varieties, but they’re tasty, free and abundant!

Saskatoon berry season is in full swing now, so I shouldn’t be surprised by the return of the Invisible Bear. The saskatoons are huge! As some of them move into the deepest of purple, others are still perfectly green, so the feast should still last several weeks.

And for those who may not know, goji berries grow well here in Canada too. They begin flowering and producing berries in about their third year.

This one is actually growing in my yard, but it needs no special care or protection. I’m sure that it would fare well in the wild too. (I met up with the Invasive Species Poisoning Technician out in the forest last week. I should have asked him whether he’d consider goji berries an invasive species… you know, if somehow some berries “accidentally” fell from someone’s hand who was eating superfood trail mix or something.)

They seem to keep to their own schedule as to when to flower and produce berries. For the past three years they’ve fruited at radically different times throughout the growing season. I like a berry that can think for itself!

I planted them on a whim, not knowing whether they’d survive our severe winters. Well, after last winter’s unending debacle, I’m confident in their adaptability– a quality they’re happy to pass along to consumers.

If you’re interested in growing your own goji berries, all you need is a reasonably fresh goji berry… and by reasonably fresh I mean less than three years old. Tear the berry open with your hands and plant pieces of the seed-containing flesh about a half inch deep and you should have dozens of gojis sprouting in a couple of weeks. Transplant them out into your garden once they’ve established themselves (a few inches high).

And feel free to join me for a real sugar high on Sugar Mountain… I’m not leaving here anytime soon!