The Wild Strawberry
A short (but sweet) reflection on wildness
Have you ever eaten a wild strawberry? I ask because last weekend, on a slow sunny Sunday we headed out to a patch we’ve had our eye on for a few weeks to harvest a few of these mini marvels. As we picked, I wondered how many people have actually eaten one, or even remember that the cultivated strawberry has a wild ancestor.
You would be forgiven if you haven’t. Sadly it is rare to stumble upon them, for we seem intent on taming the places they thrive, cutting, thrashing and spraying the edges of tracks and paths until they are void of life, yet when you do find a patch by the side of some trail or track, they can spread and creep to cover a sizeable area. The key to finding them is spotting the small white flowers earlier in the year.
Diminutive in size yet fierce and intense in flavour, bright red gems hiding in tangled, spreading green growth, wild strawberries are a joy to behold on a summer’s day. So sweet and soft, they are perhaps Nature’s finest confectionary. The cultivated strawberry, inflated, mutated and stripped of its wild essence is barely comparable.
We are forever trying to tame the wildness out of things in an effort to “improve” them: the strawberry; the rose; our selves and what we end up with is a poor imitation of the real thing, swollen and bloated with unnecessary additions that detract from the very essence of what made the thing good.
In every facet of modern life it seems the aim is to keep adding more and more, and yet in the process we end up taking away. Exchanging fullness of life for apparent ease of existence, yet void of substance.
I wish to live the fullest life possible, not full and bloated like the cultivated strawberry, but full like the wild strawberry; small in size yet with depth and purpose, and that for me means a life outdoors, connecting with Nature’s wild goodness.
Well, that’s all for now. Just a short one which I quite enjoyed writing. We have a lot of creative projects on the go at the moment which is very exciting. The summer holidays are fast approaching too so we’re making plans for adventures…
With warmest wishes,
Andrew
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How wonderful, they look delicious! I've not come across wild strawberries on our Lake District walks but wild raspberries yes, every visit on a patch near Grasmere - very small and very sweet.
I love this article! It’s so timely since the wild strawberries have just started to fruit in our backyard in the mountains here in Norway and I’ve been marveling over them. They have a beautiful, unique flavor that can’t compare with cultivated strawberries and it’s hard to describe the flavor to those who haven’t eaten them. A very good reminder that we’re all perfect in our own wild ways before expectations ground that out of many of us.