Life may be just a bowl of blackberries
By Mary Pannabecker Steiner
One of my brothers lives in the mountains of Virginia where he regularly picks a variety of wild berries on his runs up the mountainside and into the woods. This never really impressed me because I don't like blackberries and raspberries so why bother picking them?
Or at least that was my perspective until I heard Hank Shaw talk about hunting, fishing, and foraging your own food. Shaw, the author of "Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast", offers advice to anyone interested in taking a more active role in determining what they feed themselves and their families.
Ironically, during a recent run I was listening to Shaw's conversation on a Splendid Table podcast. A few minutes later, I stopped near a favorite rock to take a break. There, within an arm's reach, grew a rambling bush of wild blackberries.
I grabbed a few, shoved them in my shorts pocket for my husband and decided to return later in the week to pick more. The next day, the destructive derecho windstorm swept through our part of Ohio, replacing those visions of blackberries with downed ancient trees, power lines, and a week of struggling back to normality.
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Stories Posted This Week
Tuesday, September 29, 2026
- Pirate volleyball sweeps Wapakoneta
- Pirate boys golf 4th at NWC tourney; Meyer places 2nd
- Pirate girls soccer shuts out Lima Central Catholic
- Pirate boys soccer shuts out Lima Central Catholic
- Pirate girls tennis blanks Kenton
- Bluffton Fall Festival overflows with family fun
- Stauber exhibit at Massillon Museum through November 1
Monday, September 28, 2026
- Beavers sports roundup, September 21-27
- Alan K. Yoder, O.D., 86, owned Family Eye Care Clinic of Bluffton
- I-75 lane restrictions in Hancock County, Sept. 28-Oct. 2
- Travis Michael Swank, 40, was a salesman
- NetVUE panel highlights chaplaincy, vocation and meaningful work
- Bluffton Presbyterian hosts community-wide Socktober drive
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, September 26
- September 26 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- State Patrol investigates serious injury crash involving ambulance
- Weekend Doctor: What is a DO?
- Distance runner Chappell-Dick to be inducted in EMU Hall of Honor
- October Business Collective with Bluffton Food Pantry
Friday, September 25, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, September 25
- Clay, community, and the classroom
- Pirate volleyball loss vs. Crestview
- Pirate girls soccer win vs. Allen East
- Janine Elizabeth (Minnich) Millager, 87, was a lab technician
- Send October 2026 calendar events to the Icon
- New time for Planning and Bluffton Beyond Tomorrow meetings, Sept 29
- Pirate boys golf 10th at sectionals
- Fall Festival activities are all over Bluffton, Sept. 26