One of the richest sources of vitamins and calories in Europe’s wilder uplands is the whimberry. At least that’s its name in Mid-Wales, but elsewhere it is known as the bilberry or blueberry and in France as myrtille.
It festoons a low-growing shrub that jostles for space with heather and the thin mountain grasses.
The rich blue-black berries which are sweet and rich in vitamin C are prized by moorland wildlife and humans alike, but gathering decent quantities requires great patience, for the small fruit hang individually beneath the foliage and picking them individually is a painstaking task.
The traditional short cut is to use a special tool which resembles a cross between an Afro-comb, a sieve and a fire shovel. It is still an acquired art to drag this through the undergrowth and yield significant quantities of berries, but it is well-worthwhile as testified by the popularity of tarte aux myrtilles in Alpine ski resorts.
