In the past I've speculated about what it would take to make a batch of jam from the Oregon grape (Mahonia repens). In my experience, it generally produces about three or four fruits per stem, and the labor of collecting enough material to feed ourselves has seemed overly expensive. Until now. This week, I was walking around in Indian Creek and I noticed that the ground was covered with Oregon grape. Not only that, but every stem had a cluster of fruit like you'd see at Safeway—fifty to a clump. I'm tempted to send the girls out there to collect a couple of full buckets. They say it takes only about three pounds of the fruit to make a batch of jam. (Of course, the "grapes" are so sour that each batch also calls for about five cups of sugar.)
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