Here in South Texas we have a little plant called Agarita. Mahonia trifoliolata is a plant you do not want to wander into in the dark. It looks like Holly but has five times as many spines that are about five times as sharp. But, once a year they are covered (if the bees do their work and the rains follow) with tiny red berries. They have a wonderful sweet/tart flavor that makes a fantastic jelly. The roots can also be boiled to produce a liquid that is supposed to provide relief for toothache, if you're in a pinch.
To gather them the generally accepted method is to lay down a tarp under the plant and beat it with a stick. Then gather up the tarp with the berries inside. This works great on a stand alone plant with no underbrush. Madre Nature here is STX is not always so obliging. I take a plastic washtub, hold it under a branch and scrape the branch with a small leaf rake. I then skim off the leaves (wearing thick leather gloves) and pour the berries into another tub. That allows all the bugs to crawl out before I come back with another bunch.
I gathered about two gallons today and #1 wife and I spent two hours cleaning the bugs, dirt, leaves and assorted trash out of them. Tomorrow she'll work her magic in the kitchen and tuesday morning I expect I'll have homemade biscuits and Agarita Jelly. Life is good when you can survive!
I also managed to gather enough dewberries to put on the Blue Bell this evening. Don't know how I survived this long without any of that either!
Alan
