Autumn Olives: Can’t beat ‘em? Eat ‘em!

By Pat Stinson
Sun contributor

Once you know what it looks like, you see it everywhere — along roadsides, driveways, fences and the forest’s edge. The branches of Elaeagnus umbellate, a shrub more commonly known as Autumn Olive, droop over each other and create an umbrella of shade. Beginning in September, that umbrella is showered with small, olive-shaped, red berries which attract birds and wild food foragers.

With pointy, elongated, gray-green leaves revealing silvery undersides, tenacious fruit and a squat-like stature (standing at most about 20 feet tall and 30 feet wide), Autumn Olive bushes are easily spotted from September through early winter. Good thing, too. They’re number 5 on the Top 20 Invasive Plants identified by the Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network.

Originally from Asia, the plants were introduced here in the 1800s as ornamentals. Soil Conservation offices sold them as windbreaks and as sources of food for wildlife before discovering their invasive nature. The bushes readily adapt to our sandy soil as their roots fix nitrogen. In doing so, however, they push out native plants that need less enriched soils to grow. The sweet-and-sour fruit attracts many birds, which scatter the seeds, but does not attract the native insects birds catch to feed their young. Nor do native insects keep the foreign plant species in check.

Some states have “outlawed” the sale of Autumn Olive plants. Look online and one finds seeds and plants readily available on eBay, Amazon.com and through online nurseries.

As part of its research, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) propagated plants for cultivation, to create a new crop of Autumn “berries.”

So, there are states that recognize Autumn Olives’ invasiveness. Then, there’s the federal government agency attempting to grow more, to harness the plants’ redeeming qualities. Why would they do this? The USDA’s research showed that the Autumn Olive fruit contains, by volume, 17 times the lycopene of a tomato. Lycopene is a carotene with antioxidant properties that may have health benefits, including possible inhibitory effects against some cancers. The fruit is also said to contain Vitamins C and E.

Reportedly attracted in part to the “outlaw” aspect of Autumn berries, Timothy Young, owner of Food for Thought, and Paul Siers, a Mount Pleasant landowner who harvests the berries on 17 acres of his property, teamed up to produce a fruit product called Fair Trade Wild Autumn Berry Preserves. The Invasive Species Network recently recognized Food for Thought as a partner and described the product as “making lemonade from lemons.” Siers supplies frozen pulp to Food for Thought, which sells the preserves online and locally at Oryana and Oleson’s on Long Lake Road.

Christina Ryan-Stoltz loves the taste of Autumn Olive fruit and receives a case of Autumn Berry Preserves as a gift each fall from her mother, who works at Food For Thought. Ryan-Stoltz’s son, Isaac, introduced her to the berries after his friend, Avery, shared some with him. Ryan-Stoltz conducted her own research online before tasting fruit from a shrub in their back yard her son insisted was an Autumn Olive.

“I Googled Autumn Olives and discovered they are an invasive species and that they are out of control,” Ryan-Stoltz explained, “but then i discovered, too, that they are nutrient dense! They pack quite a punch … I was intrigued, after first reading so much about their invasiveness. So then, we went to pick them, finally convinced they were, indeed, edible.”

Ryan-Stoltz eats them raw, soft seeds and all, by hand or in salads and also makes fruit leather, jelly and chutney.

“Did you know they taste different if the bush is in shade or sun?” she asked. “I read that as well as proved it for myself.”

She remembers the first time she ate the fruit.

“I discovered this taste that literally made me tingle,” she mused. “At first I was a little afraid something was wrong, but I realized it was pure pleasure, and I couldn’t get enough! There seemed to be a familiar, nostalgic taste, like maybe from my childhood that I couldn’t quite name, but was, literally, at the tip of my tongue.”

She said the more of them she ate, the more she was convinced that it was no coincidence that Autumn Olives were both “invasive” and “nutritional powerhouses.”

“It was as if they were trying desperately to get our attention, like, ‘Hellooooo! I’m here! I’m a possible deterrent to heart disease and cancers of the prostate, cervix, and gastrointestinal tract! And I’m right in your back yard! I’m free! I’m abundant! Are you listening?’”

She made batches of jelly to give as gifts, but family and friends ate them too quickly. She said she couldn’t keep up with the demand, as she found the fruit difficult to harvest and time consuming to gather.

Their location in poorer soils and open fields makes them great companions for wild grapes and Virginia creeper — two other sun-loving, fruit-bearing plants. When foraging, don’t mistake Virginia creeper berries for wild grapes, and be aware that you may unwittingly crush a few grapes while picking the firmer Autumn olives. Some people strip the branches of the bush with their hands. Others, such as Siers, hit the branches with a tool to loosen the fruit. In the process, you may scare up some hungry birds and mosquitoes lurking in the shade.

It’s all part of the Autumn Olive experience. Relax, pick a handful and savor the tangy sweetness of summer’s end.