Hello friends! It’s the end of August, and look what’s fruiting! This is Callicarpa americana, the American Beautyberry. I first encountered this gorgeous native edible ornamental plant while foraging locally, and two years ago I planted three small starts as understory plants in my North Carolina food forest. They fruited last year, and again this year, but these shrubs will get much larger in the future and really produce a lot of berries for me and the wildlife to enjoy. Beautyberries have a unique flavor. They are pungent, piney, and citrusy, with spongy textured flesh and tiny crunchy seeds. Beautyberries are often prepared into jelly or syrup. They make perfect natural sprinkles, and a striking garnish for savory or sweet dishes. This plant has traditional medicinal applications, is used as a natural mosquito repellent, and has some potential for fabric dye. I think I have enough beautyberries for today, let’s give Titus some pets.
I’m also going to harvest some herbs and edible flowers from the garden to enjoy with these beautyberries, including French Marigolds, Mexican Sunflowers, Lemon Basil, more French Marigolds, Blue Pea Flowers, and Lemon Gem Signet Marigolds, and then use them all to garnish a yogurt parfait. What unique local flavors are you celebrating this season? Please let me know in the comments. Cheers! Until next time.
P.S. The yogurt parfait was just Greek yogurt layered with flax seeds and peanuts, honey drizzled on top, and then garnished with the garden goodies.
#foraging #permaculture #permaculturegarden #flowers #flower #edibleflowers #beautyberry #garden #gardening #gardenharvest #nature #naturelovers #eatwhatyougrow #forageharvest #fruit #fruits #berry #berries #fruiting #localfood #nativeplants #northcarolina #marigold #marigoldflower #marigoldgarden #marigolds #sunflower #sunflowers #bloom #blooms #blooming #blossoms #flowergarden #gardenflowers #gardenflower #plants #marigoldplant #short #shorts #shortsfeed #shortsvideo #shortsvideos #romanticizinglife
Hello friends. It’s the end of August and look what’s fruing. This is Cali Karpa Americana, the American beauty berry. I first encountered this gorgeous native edible ornamental plant while foraging locally. And two years ago, I planted three small starts as understory plants in my North Carolina food forest. They fruited last year and again this year, but these shrubs will get much larger in the future and really produce a lot of berries for me and the wildlife to enjoy. Beauty berries have a unique flavor. They are pungent, piny, and citrusy with spongy textured flesh and tiny crunchy seeds. Beauty berries are often prepared into jelly or syrup. They make perfect natural sprinkles and a striking garnish for savory or sweet dishes. This plant has traditional medicinal applications, is used as a natural mosquito repellent, and has some potential for fabric dye. I think I have enough beauty berries for today. Let’s give Titus some pets. I’m also going to harvest some herbs and edible flowers from the garden to enjoy with these beauty berries, including French maragolds, Mexican sunflowers, lemon basil, more French maragolds, blue pea flowers, and lemon gem signant maragolds. And then I’m going to use these all to garnish a yogurt parfait. What unique local flavors are you celebrating this season? Please let me know in the comments. Cheers until next time.
1 Comment
I need those!!