Blackberries, Harriman State Park.

I’ve never seen more (unripened) blackberries, raspberries and blueberries in Harriman State Park.

This year promises to be a bumper crop for berry picking in Harriman State Park.  Even the serviceberries (shadberries) — ripe now — are in full fruit.  (Don’t forget the deliciously edible serviceberry, which tastes like no other fruit but, in a converse way, tastes like something of a cross between the blueberry and the blackberry.  Generically fruity, I’d say.  Great on cereal.  Pick them from the tree when they’re almost purplish and large.)

There’s at least another two weeks to go before the fruit has ripened and is ready to be picked.  As far as I know, there are no restrictions about picking fruit in Harriman — you are allowed by law to gather edibles from state land, as long as it’s used for your own consumption.  That is, you can’t gather it to sell at a roadside stand, or to make your jams and bring them to market.

You should also take care with how you remove the berries.  There are tools available online that make berry picking somewhat easier (there’s a berry rake, for example).  But, used incorrectly, these can really damage the bushes.

Historically, berry-pickers in search of huckleberries for commercial use would rip the plants right out by the roots, and winnow the berries, leaving the plants to wither and die in their wake.  These were the berry-pickers that set up camp in the Shawangunk Mountains, and the southern Catskills in the early part of the 1900s.

By the way, one of my very favorite (secret!) foraging spots in in Harriman State Park is near Lake Welch.  This spot is simply loaded with highbush blueberries.  To reach it, aim for the intersection of St. John’s Road and Gate Hill Road; there’s a little dirt path and gate that is directly across from St. John’s Road where it intersects Gate Hill Road, and you’ll walk along that path.  Immediately turn right into the meadow and you’ll see the highbushes.  (The precise location is 41 13 43.0 N, 74 5 5.8 W.)

Watch for bear, or for someone wearing a bear costume and holding a berry pail.