Berries, fruits and nuts from Norwegian forests - what and when to forage

As the continuation of my forage education, after studying deeply the mushrooms, and trying to memorize all the information before the season (what is the worst think that can happen? I won't die if I'll make a mistake. Oh wait...), I redirected my attention to berries and other fruits from the local forests. The idea is to make the list of all the plants (and mushrooms. Mushrooms are officially not categorized as plants) that can be collected, organize it so I can have a separate list for the beginners with everything what cannot be mistaken with poisonous substitute, and more advanced collectors, finally to make sort of calendar which will help me to organize my time, and suggest what to look for in each of the months.

I identified over ten sweets of nature. Perhaps there is more of them, I would be very happy to hear in the comment section from someone more experienced, if you know about some other nature gem that I should add here. The ones that I wrote down below is quite a lot, I think - some are common, to find the others is a big luck. Whatever from the list will be foraged, will bring a joy to our taste buds though.

1. Wild Rose

That one, at least for me, is very simple to identify, as I was already collecting it in the past. It's a big bush, present nearly on every continent, with dark red hips, or pink flowers. We can collect the flowers (to make the rose water, or eat directly, as a great plate decoration or addition to your salad), or rose hips - dark red fruits of the plant, that appear later in the season. Just remember that only the flowers will be replaced by fruits, so if you will collect all of the pink flowers in the spring/early summer season, there is no sense to come back in autumn/early winter for the rose hips. I personally believe, the hips are much more practical to collect (and storage), so I would focus on foraging them. You can make a jam out of it, you can use it while producing homemade alcohol, you can make out of it the tea, syrup, or even a soup. Thanks to its intense color, it's quite attractive as the plate decoration as well, although it gives totally different vibe than the blossomed flower.

2. Crowberry

It's impossible to mistake it with anything non-edible or poisonous in Norway. They grow in a low shrubs with needles, fruits are black, shiny, and once you try them, they have a slight bitter taste. The plant is very common in northern hemisphere - from Alaska, via Canada, Syberia to Scandinavia, including my beloved new home, Norway :)
Okay, crowberries may not be as sweet as other berries you may already know, but they are still very tasty. You can eat them directly from the bush, if you want to, make all the jams, sirops and other stuff already described with Wild Rose (it will apply to all the berries), you can dry them and add to your granola, and if you have too much free time, you can even make a vinegar out of them or ferment the fruits

3. Wild Strawberry

It's not the big strawberry you know from your supermarkets. Those, as I heard (didn't try yet), can be planted in local gardens, but you definitely won't find them into the wild. Strawberries from the forest are tiny - think about the size of your nail - and may be a little bit more sour than the garden mutation (depends on where they grow, how much access to the sun do they have). They like semi-shadowed spots, drained soil and access to water, so it's good to look for them at the edges of the forests, preferably close to the rivers or lakes.

4. Raspberry

Wild Raspberry will prefer the spots similar to those that I described with the strawberries, but it will be much easier to find, as there is plenty of them in the Norwegian forests. It's recommended to look for them in July-August, and as they don't like the high altitudes, I would probably have to try to forage them a few kilometers to the south from my spot (30km to the south from my home, elevation already drops by 300 meters). Remember that the Raspberry bushes have spikes, so it's good to wear gloves while collecting the fruits.
You can do with the foraged gems absolutely everything what can be done with previous plants, and, with a bit of creativity, you can make also flavored mustard, or spherificated caviar. While collecting fruits, keep in mind that you can grab some leaves as well, and use them as a tea.

5. Cloudberry

It goes by the name of "Nordic Berry" as well, and it's quite characteristic for this region although it definitely is more rare than other described until now berries. It grows in a mountains, on the wetlands of higher altitude, so my region is perfect habitat for them. Just remember that berries are ready when they are orange - don't collect the red, early stadium fruits. You wouldn't get food poisoning, but you wouldn't enjoy the flavor (unless you're one of those who put peach and banana on your pizza, then - who knows? Your tastebuds are a mystery for me).
Look for them in late July to August, and don't feel disappointed when you won't find any. That's a true treasure of the local forests, and rare treasure hunts not always end with success.

6. Lingonberry

I would call this fruit "Norwegian fetish". They put it on everything. You eat a steak? Serve it with lingonberry, you eat the meatballs? Serve it with lingonberry? Toasts, ice creams, cakes, chicken? All goes well with lingonberry based on local standards.
We serve it in our hotel restaurant as well, and even though you can buy frozen fruits in the supermarket, I don't think anyone out of the city is doing it. The fruits are so common, that one day long trip to the forests will allow you to collect a full bucket. Then you freeze it, and you can enjoy the fruit for the rest of the year.

Fun fact - you can visit the same spots twice, as this popular plant has two harvesting seasons. First is in late July to August, with slightly smaller fruits. Then the second, most important, is from September to early October.

7. European Bilberry

Or simply Wild Blueberry. I guess if you'd put the market blueberry next to Bilberry, you wouldn't notice much of a difference. Maybe the size of the version from the shopping shelves would be bigger. Actually (I just checked my fridge), shopping version in Norway include Bilberry. American blueberries are not available (at least in my village). Until now, I didn't notice it's a different fruit, neither by shape, nor by taste.
Foraging depend on the altitude. Here where I live, I may have to wait until August to look for them in the forest.

8. Rowan Berry

Rowanberries are common in almost whole Europe and on Syberia. It's a big bush or even a tree with red, circle fruits, growing in clusters (in August-September). They need pre-preparation to become edible. If you will harvest them, and eat raw, you will end up spending a couple of days in the bathroom, as they are slightly poisonous. Cooking, or even freezing them is killing all the parasorbic acids (okay, changes into other type of acids, as acid cannot be killed, but who cares), so they can be safely consumed. I wouldn't recommend to eat it every day for a month or two though. It's like with more known rhubarb - it's good to limit the consumption, just in case.
The taste of Rowan Berry goes very well with lamb or deer. It will work also with wild poultry.

9. Sea Buckthorn

The name implies that the plant can be found near the sea, and that's mostly true. It's first habitat are the coasts, but it grows also in the mountains, on the edges of the forests, and, it can be cultivated in our gardens too.
The best time of collecting those nice, orange fruits is September, although some of them should survive on the benches also during the winter season. Bush can be as high as 4 meters (although normally it's not more than half of that size), is covered with the spikes, and the berry, while tried raw, is slightly lemony flavored but with unpleasant consistency. We can get rid of it by cooking the plant.

10. hazelnuts

Who would have thought the Hazel Tree can grow even in Norway? It's much more common closer to the coast, in the north of Agder region, where I live, it may be more challenging to find them, but that means a couple of hours by bus, and I can already forage the nuts, filling my whole backpack with them.
Late summer to early autumn would be the best moment to get some nuts.

11. Alpine Bearberry

Can be easily mistaken with Crowberry, as they are quite similar, both are2 edible though. It can be eaten raw or cooked, it's slightly bitter, and very juicy. What's interesting, Native Americans used leaves of this plant, mixed with tobacco and other herbs in religious ceremonies. It's highly not recommended to do it now though - not the healthiest thing you could imagine.

12. Elderberry

Different plants from the elderberry family have red, black and sometimes even white fruits. Only the fruits and the flowers can be eaten - the rest of the plant is toxic. The time for harvesting flowers is in May and June, the time for the fruits - in August and September.

13. Hawberry

We are closing the list with less known plant, that gives small, red, apple-like fruits. The berries are ready to pick when they are soft in touch and with the deep red color (From August to October). Their seeds contain a small amount of not-so-good when eaten in a big amount amygdalin, so it's recommended to spit them. If you'll eat only a few seeds, nothing bad should happen though, so don't worry.

The taste of hawberry reminds sour cherry with a bit of floral aroma. Accidentally eating the seed may cause that berry will taste bitter.