Berry picking for beginners: a DIY guide to delicious harvests

Whether you're looking for a fun outdoor activity or want to try your hand at harvesting natural foods, berry picking is an ideal outing for the entire family. It's also as simple, as long as you follow two essential rules: always know what you're picking, and never waste what you've harvested.

• Edible berries may come in all colours, but poisonous berries do, too. Which berries are safe — and tasty — will vary enormously between regions.
• Use a reputable, region-specific berry book or online guide to help you identify what you're looking at in the field.
• Don't just focus on the berries themselves. The plants they grow on give valuable clues to identifying your potential harvest.

Although you should learn to identify all the poisonous berries in your region so you can stay away from them, don't depend on the process of elimination to decide what's safe to harvest. Only pick from plants on which you've made a positive, "good to eat" identification.

• Wild animals like berries, so be on the lookout for other animals (especially bears) while you're picking.
• You don't have to be on constant high alert, but do be aware of your surroundings, and make sure that any kids in your group know how to do the same.

• Berry picking is a great family activity for several reasons. If you visit the berry patch numerous times throughout the year, kids will learn about the plants' natural life cycle.
• The process of picking gives them an appreciation for where food comes from, and it also provides value for what they've picked with their own hands.
• There are additional locations to explore if they get bored, as long as they stay close and aware of their surroundings.

• Berries can be dried, frozen or canned, but freezing is the easiest method for most people.
• Roll the berries down a towel-covered board; the towel will "catch" most of the twigs and leaves that may have been harvested along with the berries.
• Pick out any other debris, and give the berries a good rinse (except for blueberries — this will make their skins leathery).

Freeze the berries by spreading them out on a cookie sheet, and then pour the frozen berries into plastic bags or other freezer containers for storage. Pre-freezing them on the cookie sheet keeps them from sticking together once in their containers.