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Posted by Sandy Beverly October 25, 2010 at 6:39 p.m.

Making Fruit Leather from Wild-Harvested Autumn Olives (With a Nod to Ma and Pa Ingalls)

My husband tells me I’m getting a little obsessed with gathering wild edibles. But here’s a success story: Max and I made fruit leather from berries we discovered along a local bike path.

Tasty Autumn Olive fruit leather!

Tasty Autumn Olive fruit leather! by sgb

The tree is Autumn Olive, related to the Russian Olive and not a “true” olive. In the fall, it sports tart red berries with silvery spots. The lone tree caught my eye at 12 miles an hour, and even though I’ve never seen this species before, my brain said “Autumn Olive.” See, oh doubting husband, those hours spent poring over wild edible books have not been wasted!

Autumn Olive close-up

Autumn Olive close-up by sgb

Once I confirmed that the tree was indeed an Autumn Olive, Max and I returned with shopping bag and pruners. In no time at all, we’d filled the bag with small branches. (Next time, I won’t clip the branches, I’ll strip the berries straight from the tree. But this plant is considered invasive in many places, no harm done by slowing its growth a little.)

That evening, we were ready to dig in. Had a fabulous time sitting on the floor and stripping the berries into a bowl. The simple beauty of the round crimson berries made me smile, and we had a misplaced sense of pride about the quantity we had gathered.

Stripping berries

Stripping berries by sgb

We washed ‘em, cooked ‘em, ran ‘em thru a food mill. (Hey, nobody said processing wild fruit is easy! That’s why those pioneer women could birth their babies while traveling the Oregon Trail. That, and because they had to…) Then we sweetened the resulting runny magenta mush with lots of honey. One night in the electric food dryer, some kitchen shears (sorry, pioneer women, technology happens), and, viola, a bunch of beautiful if slightly mouth-puckering fruit roll-ups.

Finished Fruit Leather in the Dehydrator Tray

Finished Fruit Leather in the Dehydrator Tray by sgb

Look out, Ma Ingalls. I’m after your cookbook, and your husband.

Important aside: According to the Wild Berries & Fruit Field Guide, Autumn Olive has no toxic look-alikes. But, as always, be careful eating wild plants. Some are quite poisonous.

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  1. RETICENT_IRREVERENT (Ronaldo Ignacio) says…

    Autumn olive berries.
    It's kinda sorta like tounge kissing Kristy Holland in the 6th grade. When the ripe fruit is picked just before the first frost, the flavor is awesome and the fruit quite juicy. If you eat them then, the tartness will pucker your mouth, but sweetness is your reward.

  2. dontsheep (Gabe Hunninghake) says…

    Looks awesome Sandy. Any chance you'll spill the beans on where you found the little delicacies?

    1. sgb (Sandy Beverly) replies…

      Of course--That tree could feed an army! It's on the bike bath near Clinton. I parked along the road that crosses the dam. Walk north, then east along Clinton Parkway, then the bike path heads north, paralleling K-10. The tree is maybe two-tenths of a mile north, on the east side of the path. It stands mostly alone; the berries will make it visible. Hope you check it out. Reticent's post suggests the berries may be even sweeter now.

  3. dontsheep (Gabe Hunninghake) says…

    Awesome. That's only a short walk from my house. I'll take the kids over and check it out! Thanks Sandy.

Reply 4 comments from Gabe Hunninghake Sandy Beverly Ronaldo Ignacio

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