Registration Requirements: Preregistration required.

Intended Audience: This program is designed for adults and interested youth ages 10 and up, when accompanied by an adult. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Program Description: Borrow one of our berry baskets and head out on a guided wild black raspberry picking hike in the dappled evening light along the edge of the woods. We’ll head back to the barn, where you’ll learn to make a “shrub,” a colonial-era recipe used to preserve fruit. Also known as a "drinking vinegar,” shrubs were the Kool-Aid of their day. Savor the season as you try a mocktail made with our own wild black raspberry shrub, then head home with your own in-process wild black raspberry shrub.

In this harvest experience, you’ll:

• discover the vibrant flavor of our native black raspberry.
• work in community with others.
• hear how versatile shrubs are in cocktails/mocktails and in culinary applications.
• explore how native plants, like our wild black raspberry, are important to wildlife.
• have the opportunity to ask questions about how we wild tend our native black raspberry patches, as well as how we make vinegar.
• leave with inspiration, a sense of satisfaction, and instructions to finish your shrub at home.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What’s in a shrub? 
Shrubs are equal parts fruit, sugar/honey, and vinegar. The acidity of the vinegar preserves the fruit.

What does a shrub taste like? 
Since shrubs are infused for days to weeks, they acquire savory, fermented, and jammy notes that add a complex, sweet-and-tart "kick" that citrus by itself does not provide. 

How are shrubs used?
Finished shrubs are great mocktail/cocktail modifiers. Mix a few tablespoons with seltzer or alcohol. They pair well with almost any base spirit. Try shrub as a vinaigrette salad dressing, a glaze on fish or meat, or swirl it into your yogurt.

What to Expect: We will be headed out into our tended but wild black raspberry patches (which entails about a 0.5-mile, off-trail walk from the barn).

• Black raspberry canes are thorny. With care, you’ll emerge unscathed.
• Loaner harvesting baskets (the sort that attach to your waist to allow you to pick with both hands) will be available.
• Restrooms are available at the start and end of the program. Restrooms are not available on the trails.
• Program runs rain or shine.

What to Wear: As we’re harvesting from thorny wild black raspberry canes, long pants, boots, and even a sturdy long-sleeved shirt are recommended. Pro-tip: consider wearing a clean glove on your non-dominant hand (to hold blackberry canes), picking with your dominant hand. Treating your body/clothing for chiggers is recommended. 

Where to Meet: Registered participants will meet at the Creekside Barn at our Long Branch Farm & Trails location. (6926 Gaynor Rd, Goshen, OH 45122)

Cost: Ticket fees include daily admission. 

Check your email for registration information regarding this transaction. SAVE A TREE, please retain your order number or save an electronic copy of the email acknowledgement as a receipt. You may be asked for your order number from your transaction to gain entry at the gate/to attend your program. Visitor Services associates can also verify your etickets from the order number or by name.

Please note that our program and cancellation policies vary. By completing registration for this program, you agree to the following general program policies.