On a late camping slip to the central Oregon slide , we drop dead on hike like we usually do , and came across what we believed to be salal Charles Edward Berry ! I   snap a few exposure , then twice check my guidebooks when we get back to ingroup , and let on that they were , in fact , shallon berry . We decided to stop back by that track before we head home , so that we could collect some of these tasty berries . Foraging for salal berry is well-off , at least for those of us on the west coast . They are abundant , fairly light to recognise , and even medicative as well as edible !

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Foraging for Salal Berries

Salal ( Gaultheria shallon)is an evergreen plant shrub native to western North America , although there is an eastern variety more normally known as American checkerberry , or “ teaberries . ”

However , from what I ’ve scan , they are n’t all that similar , as salal Chuck Berry savor a bit like blueberries and teaberries taste , well … like wintergreen .

Salal often develop in big brush in coastal areas , which is on the dot what we ascertain ! There were so many berries , we did not feel bad take a small bucketful full .

Salal berry shrub, and foraged salal berries in a yellow bowl.

Harvesting Salal Berries and Leaves

Salal Charles Edward Berry do not come off easily , even when they ’re ripe , so it ’s best to cut them off in crowd and process them once you get home .

The leaves are also extremely medicinal , so it ’s a estimable way for you to harvest both berries and leaf at the same fourth dimension .

I found it easy to use scissors to abridge the Berry off a crowd at a time . I put the berries into a bowl and the leaves onto a drying screen .

A salal berry bush

How to Use Salal Berries and Leaves

Salal leaves are acerbic and anti - inflammatory . They have historically been used medicinally by Native Americans for a range of a function of things , including respiratory ailments , digestion , and as a poultice .

When made into a tea it can safely be pack for repeated doses if require be , according to the bookMedicinal industrial plant of the Pacific Westby Michael Moore ( an awesome book , I might append ) .

Salal Chuck Berry have a penchant that is exchangeable to blueberry , and the insides expect to me like the interior of a fig .

salal berries growing

I ’ve read some reports that the Chuck Berry are tasteless , but I have n’t found that to be the case at all . I think they are super tasty , fresh yet modest .

The Salish People traditionally mashed them and dry out them into cakes . This may be why they are know as being a good berry for dry and preserving .

I made   an awesomeWild Berry & Nectarine Galettewith this salal Chuck Berry harvesting ! Here are some more great posts on this amazing berry :

lots of wild salal berries

Have you ever foraged for wild edible Chuck Berry ?

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salal berries and leaves in bucket

harvesting salal berries and leaves

salal berries close up

salal berry harvest