Re: red berry bushes by the trail

I believe you are referring to Holly Cherries. You can look them up to make sure that the berries you are eating are the same. I eat them by the hand full from the end of July to about the end of October when they turn purple. That is when they are ripe. Do not bite into the seed however cause they contain small amounts of arsenic a toxic substance. If you do bite into one accidentally apparently the levels are low cause it never bothered me. The Indians made a wine like drink out of them and of course stumbled around a bit afterwards. They are very refreshing and sweet when picked at the right time. However do not know how to make some thing useful out of them since the flesh is very thin on the outside. Did try to make some jelly out of them, but the process was very labor intensive. Thanks