Wild Berries: history and origins

Known since prehistorical times, wild berries are spontaneous shrubs of Northern Europe and America.
The harvesting of wild berries involved families from any social class. They searched for seasonal fruit in the woods near their house in order to enrich their daily diet and to complete the family income.

Actually, it was just in the family environment that appeared the first cultivations of wild berries: the plants were cultivated in the less fertile areas of the kitchen gardens and of small orchards.

First evidence of wild berries are found in medicine treaties concerning beneficial properties of food, such as the one written by Baldassare Pisanelli in 1583 (Trattato de' cibi e del bere), in which are described the qualities of blackberries.