Today I planted a midgen berry / midyim berry (Austromyrtus dulcis) that I got from Ken Love. Midgen berry is a shrub that produces sweet and slightly spicy berries that are white with dots all over them. It is considered to be one of the tastiest bush foods and kids love to snack on them. It is found growing wild from Sydney to Southeast Queensland on the east coast of Australia.
The name comes from Mudjimba which where it literally means “the place midgen berries are from” in the Gubbi gubbi language. There is a small island off the coast of Mudjimba where legends say two women built a house on this deserted island and they harvested midgen berries… and that was the end of the tale… and I thought there was going to be more to it too.
Ken gave me an already mature midgen berry plant that I could barely fit into the car. He wanted to see if this plant would produce more berries at 700 feet on the Hilo side because in 1100 feet Kona it doesn’t get loaded with fruits. It’s a nice looking shrub with tiny leaves with copper red new growth and small star shaped flowers. I read that it can be shaped into anything too.
Originally posted on 2021-09-26, part of the daily planting journal behind Ha’a Chocolate’s food forest on Hawai’i Island.