Berry picking near Stockholm, Sweden

I recently saw someone on Reddit ask the question: “where are the best berry picking spots in Stockholm?” Well the thing is, anywhere there is forest!

Here are just a few of the places I’d check out if I were you:

• Nacka Naturreservat

• Velamsund Naturreservat

• Storrängsudds Naturreservat

• Skarpnäs Naturreservat

All you need is a berry scooper with prongs (like the one Jacob is holding), a bucket or tupperware to collect your haul, and a “rinsing” tray to pick out any leaves, moss, and snails that might have been picked up during foraging. These are sold nationwide in Sweden in grocery and hardware stores— we got ours at Ica Maxi.

This was the tinful picked from our backyard near Gustavsberg. Sandwiched between the 222 freeway and Värmdövägen, the patch of forest is filled to the brim with blueberries in July and lingonberries in August. The trick, we realized, is finding the right sun aspects.

Blueberries and lingonberries tend to like dryish, sunny areas. A southeastern aspect was perfect. Oftentimes we found the lingonberries tucked under overripe blueberry bushes or huddle near treetrunks, growing much lower to the ground than blueberries.

Because lingonberries are so tart, we’re cooking them down into lingonsylt. Lingonsylt is the perfect accompaniment to meatballs and mashed potatoes, which we plan on eating a lot of this winter!

Mvh,

Sofia