The Nordic Berry Season
Summer without the Nordic berry season is not a real summer.
The berry season in the Nordic region is coming to the end of summer, the first two types of berries to appear on the markets are strawberry and raspberry, followed by bilberry and Lingonberry (Vaccinium Vitis-idea). Currently, the bilberries are still excellent for picking, and not overripe. Overripe bilberries break up easily and color your fingers bright red with bilberry juice. The Lingonberries have a shiny red outer skin (reasonably robust), they grow in small clusters (2-6 berries), on the stems of a short bright green shrub. The red berries take some time to ripen, to test whether the berries are ripe, you merely squeeze one berry, and if the flesh is white, then the berry is not ripe when the flesh of the berry has become translucent pink in color, then the berry is ripe for picking.
Lingonberries are unique a source of nutrition in the Nordic berry season
Lingonberries are very robust berries, and they have preservatives in their own juice, they are sour/tart in flavor. It is a unique fruit in the Nordic berry season, and it was also a significant source of vitamins and nutrition for the early pioneers that discovered the Nordic region. When you think about it, the Nordic summer is short, 4-6 months, theyre are berries that appear at the middle part of summer (strawberry/raspberry), followed by the bilberry, red currants and other berries. At the end of the Nordic berry season, there are the Lingonberries.
It was possible for the pioneers to gather the lingonberries and store them in a vessel (crushed) and the Lingonberry preserved itself without any extra additives or refrigeration needed. How many berry types do you know that can do that? After the Lingonberries are ripe in autumn, there is a considerable time before the winter arrives properly with constant sub-zero temperatures, during that time most common berries would not last the distance through to the winter, and that would be an essential vitamin source lost for the consumer.
No fruit, vegetables or grain foods available for picking during winter. During the winter months (6-9 mths), there is no fruit growing for picking and nutrition, the landscape is under snow and ice. It would be late August to September when the berries were ripe for picking (some variation from year to year), that leaves about 3-4 months before the constant sub-zero temperature arrives in December (some change from year to year). In theory, it would be possible to leave the Lingonberries on the shrub until the frosts came, but that allowed the birds and other animals to feast on them during the waiting time, also risky if there was a sudden snowfall that would cover the berry shrubs.
Storing the fruit from the Nordic berry season naturally.
In the early days when there was no electricity for deep freezers to preserve the summer fruit, which is a common practice these days, they could rely on the Lingonberries to last the distance through to the following spring season, now that is fantastic fruit from Nature. The other berries would have been picked day by day and consumed fresh by the early pioneers. Later on, the berries were crushed into fruit juice and made into jams with the help of extra sugar to preserve it. Also with the introduction of wheat flour, sugar and ovens then came pastry making skills of making fruit-filled pies, e.g., bilberry pie.
The Nordic berry season provides an important nutritional boost for the consumer.
“The berries contain plentiful organic acids, vitamin C, provitamin A (as beta carotene), B vitamins (B1, B2, B3), and the elements potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. In addition to these nutrients, they also contain phytochemicals that are thought to counteract urinary-tract infections, and the seeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids“.
The health benefits are real, and available from the Nature in the Nordic berry season.
Therefore it is a reasonable gesture/habit for people to exercise their will and choose a healthy diet that includes eating lots of natural berries at the Nordic berry season.