SALAL-Gaultheria shallon

Salal- Gaultheria shallon a great tasting, readily available snack during your walk on the wild side!
!rowing up I saw Salal berry everywhere but I never tried them. Then a friend of mine told me that all native berries were non-poisonous in BC. So I decided to try these berries I ate one or two and waited to see what happhappened, nothing bad did. After that I looked it up(I know backwards) and found out it was a staple food of the first nations of BC. They used to mash the berries into cakes and let them dry so they could could be stored longterm. When it came time to serve the dried berry cakes they would soak them in whale oil before eating. Not how I want to eat my fruit leather.
To pick Salal it's best to use scissors to cut off the the entire spray of berries take them home and then cut the berries off the spray individually. If you don't do this when you pull them off the seed stays stuck to the branch and the berry turns into a sticky mess.

This is a great berry and best of all nobody else picks them!
All photos are taken by me