Unusual Autumn Fruits

This week I have come across several unusual edible fruits. I'm always interested in alternative foods (including but not restricted to those plants which crop well without any particular human attention), because a diverse food supply will offer more resilience in times of unpredictable and extreme weather conditions.

I had read about but never seen the fruit of Akebia quinata, assuming that in this country our climate isn't warm enough for the plants to produce it, let alone ripen it, so I was astonished when Jenny (a work colleague) showed me the fruit she found on an Akebia 'Silver Bells'. The firm, fleshy, white capsule opened to reveal a dark purple, sausage-shaped fruit consisting of seeds surrounded by edible pulp, similar to the inside of a pomegranate. I broke off a section and sucked the pulp from the seeds (apparently the seeds cause digestive discomfort if eaten so I spat them out). It was very sweet, with a subtle floral taste, but definitely more of a novelty fruit than a dietary staple (even if it was available in quantity) because of the fiddly nature of trying to eat the pulp without the seeds. Perhaps sieving the fruit would be a better method.

I was also happy to see fruit on the young Ugni molinae 'Butterball' plants at work which have been growing on in a polytunnel.

I'm familiar with these berries and love their sweet and spicy strawberry flavour. Ugni is in the myrtle family and also has aromatic foliage. Its only drawback is that it grows slowly, but even a small plant will produce a reasonable number of berries when grown in a glasshouse or polytunnel.

Berberis thunbergii is another shrub which produces edible red berries at this time of year, so I tried some from this well-laden bush. They tasted better than I expected, and although rather bland, dry and mealy in texture they had a pleasant hint of sourness.

I also recently came across some small plants of Gaultheria procumbens, or Wintergreen and bought one to grow on in a pot of ericaceous compost.

The leaves have a strong, characteristic wintergreen smell when crushed and can be chewed for the flavour (although not swallowed). The berries are edible and have soft white flesh which is slightly sweet with a hint of mint flavour.

(Whenever I try something for the first time I only taste a small amount just in case it doesn't agree with me).