Today’s Friday Flashback is from 19th September 2016 and is entitled ‘Crabapples’. By now I’m sure the grizzlies of the BC coast will be back digging into these favourite little delicacies, just like this momma bear was.
Original Text: “For a brief respite from salmon, our grizzly bear mom (see Fishing Ain’t Fun…) switches to Pacific Crabapples (Malus fusca) for a little dessert. A favourite of all bears along the BC coast, Pacific crabapples are about the size of a large berry when they are ripe and the bears just love ’em. Found growing in small clusters close to marshy estuaries and free flowing creeks and rivers, these apples, which are said to be rather bitter, have also been traditional favourites of many small coastal communities here in BC. They would be collected in early fall and eaten fresh soon after picking or would be stored in water to keep them fresh a little longer – they would also often sweeten up a little during storage too. Some communities used to use the bark from the Pacific crabapple tree for medicine, but would have to be very careful with its use, as a cyanide compound is also to be found in the bark of this tree.“
