How to Make Low Sugar American Beautyberry Jelly

It was Beautyberry season here in Florida recently and me, my mom, and my daughter had a blast getting back to our hunter-gatherer roots and doing what comes natural to us: foraging.  Foraging for wild foods is my third favorite thing to do, followed only by eating and sleeping. #Basic, I know. I’ve been known to find wild foods in vacant lots and not-so vacant lots and pick as much as I can possibly pick without getting caught. This year though, I asked the homeowner if I could pick his Beautyberries and in return I would bring him some Beautyberry Jelly. He obliged and we got to work. Contrary to popular belief Beautyberries are NOT poisonous. Everyone things they’re poisonous. Also known as a French Mulberry, Beautyberry  grows naturally in the southeast; as far northwest as Missouri and as far northeast as Maryland. These stunning berries can be rose pink, lavender pink or white in color and are an important food source for birds while white tail deer love Beautyberry’s foliage. Beautyberries bloom in summer from May to July but this year in Florida they bloomed well into August. Native American Indians used all parts of the Beautyberry plant for […]