Blossoms and Berries

Blossoms and Berries. A Rose by Another Name. , The word "rose" is usually associated with flowers, but in fact, both apples and raspberries are also members of the rose family. The history of apples is an ancient one. Carbonized remains of apples have been found at a Stone Age village in Switzerland. As early as the 1600's, European settlers coming to Canada brought apple seeds with them, planting them from Nova Scotia to Quebec. Apples were an important crop, providing a food source that could be stored for the winter. They were used for cider, a common drink, and were also sliced and dried for use in pies, cakes and for making applesauce in the winter months. Apples were used medicinally as well for a wide variety of complaints ranging from gout to digestive disorders. , There are only three apple species native to Canada, all of them being crabapples. The wood of the crabapple tree was very hard and heavy, making it excellent for tools and handles. Grist mills throughout Ontario’s countryside commonly had their gears and blades made of crabapple wood., Raspberries, known as “mishkominan” in Ojibway, were a traditional food that was gathered wild and dried for the winter. , Explorer Samuel de Champlain, in his map of 1632, noted an area of the North Shore where the Ojibway met annually to gather and dry raspberries and other berries. , The settlers also gathered raspberries, eating them fresh with cream and making jams and syrups for the winter. , There is an extensive history of medicinal use for the raspberry plant. Though it was the leaves that were primarily used, the roots, blossoms and berries were also utilized. As with most other plants used medicinally, raspberries had more than one application, treating a variety of illnesses from stomach problems to dysentery. One of the main uses for raspberry leaves, both by the European settlers and Aboriginal people, was for women’s disorders. Gathered as food and medicine, the whole raspberry plant was part of every woman’s medicine pouch.