To clean or not to clean berries

To clean or not to clean I don’t clean my berries–ever. Partly because I’m lazy. Partly because I don’t use a berry harvester like a rake so I don’t have quite as many leaves. One more reason? I’ve seen things like Horsetail Grass for sale at my local health food store. Apparently it does all kinds of wonderful things such as help with ulcers and skin irritations (Shofield, 2003).   Labrador tea? Good for heartburn and hangovers, colds and arthritis (Schofield, 2003).Basically most of the leaves and plants that end up in my pail probably have some beneficial medicinal use. Not the poisonous mushrooms or berries of course, but those are pretty easy to avoid. And the bugs? Protein! My favorite and most comprehensive reference for using Alaskan plants:Schofield, J. 2003. Discovering wild plants: Alaska, Western Canada, the Northwest. Alaska Northwest Books, Portland. HR Fairbanks