Berries & Mushrooms
You get a peaceful mind by walking in the forest, smelling the scents of moss and pine needles, and hearing birdsongs and the whisper of the wind in the branches. Thanks to the "right of public access in Sweden", you can feel rich by picking blue- and lingonberries as well as mushrooms. Try it, we love it.
You can easily get into the forest from the Pearl Cottage by walking for 10 min on Resarö or driving the car for the same time to the nature reserve Bogesund. Where to go? Start off with the suggested hikes and go off the trail when you come to a suitable forest.
When you're "off-trail" in the forest, don't get lost. So, look at a map on your phone before you start off and take a screenshot of it if you loose the internet connection. Every time you change direction off-rail, take reference points visually in the forest and a look on the map. You might want to add a compass. You can borrow one from us. To pick berries quicker, you can borrow our berry pickers as well.
Do look at the weather forecast before you go so you can dress properly, use shoes suitable for wet soil, and bring a bottle of water. It's very nice to have a small backpack with coffee or tea, sandwiches, and fika.
Blueberries
Wild blueberries contain more vitamins and antioxidants (anthocyanins) than the American or garden blueberries. Depending on where you are in the country, the blueberry season is from mid-June to the end of August/beginning of September. Though, it gets a late start with a cold summer or a lot of drought, a early start with a hot summer with suitable rainfall levels. Usually, by the end of July you find blueberries everywhere.
Good to know is that the first berries that appear are usually a little harder and less sweet, then they become both sweeter and softer and get that full-bodied blueberry flavour. Towards the end of the season, they lose their flavour completely and become watery and mushy.
Where to find the blueberry plants? Almost 20 percent of the country's surface is covered by the plants. They grow in an ordinary coniferous forest in acidic soil that is neither too dry nor too wet. The best plants grow in damp moss where the sun has the opportunity to shine all the way down to the bottom of the plants with trees giving some shade as well during the day.
Lingonberries
Lingonberries are the only berries that have played a major role in the Swedish food culture. In the older days, when people said they went out to pick berries, they meant lingonberries. The berries were eaten with most things – but unsweetened. The typical lingonberry jam, mixed with sugar, did not appear until the end of the 19th century when sugar became affordable.
Like the wild blueberries, lingonberries are rich in vitamins and antioxidants. The berries also contain benzoic acid, which acts as a preservative. Thus, you need only a little sugar to make the jam last. Lingonberries – as blueberries – are great in juices and cakes.
The lingonberry picking season runs from the beginning of September to mid-October. Unlike blueberries, lingonberries are not sensitive to frost; they become sweeter and milder (a bit watery though) after the first frost.
Lingonberry plants grow almost everywhere in Sweden. The berries are sometimes described as the red gold of the forest. The plants thrive in partial shade and with acidic, moist soil. Compared to the blueberry plants, they grow in sparser coniferous forest, especially near pine.
Mushrooms
The mushroom season starts early, sometimes even before midsummer. You can find chanterelles – the gold of the forest – from mid-June. Later in the summer, when it has been warm for a long time, it is possible to find the porcini mushroom. In the autumn, the funnel chanterelle and black chantarelle come. The season ends in November.
The best weather for picking mushrooms is when it's a bit cloudy, but not raining. Sunlight makes the mushrooms less visible, and moisture reduces their quality. Pick mushrooms in a basket (you can borrow ours), and not in an airtight plastic bag (it quickly reduces their quality).
Pick only young and healthy mushrooms. Leave smaller mushrooms to grow properly. ONLY pick mushrooms you're sure are edible! You can't tell by the taste or smell if a mushroom is poisonous. Even the most experienced mushroom pickers sometimes have a hard time distinguishing the poisonous mushrooms from the edible ones. If you are a beginner, it is best to stick to the varieties you know. We recommend you to only pick (yellow) chanterelle as a beginner, and we can double-check what you picked after you come back from the forest.
In Sweden, mushroom racks often go down for generations and are kept secret from outsiders. But you can figure out where the mushrooms are by knowing what growing conditions different mushrooms prefer and what the weather has been the last 10–14 days. This is the time the mushrooms need to start popping up after a heavy rain. For example, porcini mushrooms grow when the weather is warmer, while chanterelles prefer a cooler climate and more moisture.
In general, mushrooms grow in old mixed forests (coniferous and deciduous trees) where it is damp, such as in moss, under leaf cover or near lakes and marshes. Chanterelles often grow in dense, young mixed forests, while porcini mushrooms are usually found in slightly older mixed forests. The funnel chanterelles like mossy coniferous forest.
Mushrooms and trees often live in symbiosis (mycorrhiza), where the mushrooms’ “roots” (mycelium) are intertwined with the trees’ root systems. Thus, mushrooms help the trees to absorb nutrients, water, and salts. So, look close to trees and the roots of the trees. If you find a mushroom, there is often several mushrooms nearby due to the network of mycelium. Also, mushrooms like to grow near well-trodden paths, where animals and people have walked – or look in and next to old tractor tracks in the forest.
There is a lot of lovely dishes with mushrooms, we can help you with advices if you’re a beginner.