Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: jthompson1995 on June 07, 2010, 02:53:31 pm
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I had never tried serviceberries until this year. I noticed two trees behind my office were overloaded with berries and picked a few and tried them.
I now have a new favorite berry.
I have been picking bowlfuls of them for about a week and a half and i can't get enough. My family has been eating them fresh, baked in cupcakes and breads, inpancakes and more. I'll have to try making jam or syrup with them as well. I haven't found anything that these berries don't do well yet. I'm just kinda bummed that in a few days the berries will be gone.
Figuring the nice blooms and good fall color (not to mention the wood for arrows and bows) I think this is now my favorite tree. I am going to plant a bunch of them in my yard this fall so hopefully only a couple years til I can start picking them at home. Until then I'll just pick them from the trees at work.
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Cool! I have never tried them before... I wonder if they grow around here... :)
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You'll have to buy an RV and start travelling north to ride the ripening wave. They peak here around the end of July/early August.
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Cool! I have never tried them before... I wonder if they grow around here... :)
They grow in zones 4-8, so you should be good. You might be able to find some in the woods near you since they are native.
You'll have to buy an RV and start travelling north to ride the ripening wave. They peak here around the end of July/early August.
I'd love to but i don't think LOML would accept picking berries as a valid reason to spend the money on a RV, lose my job, etc.
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I love those serviceberries, one of my favorites. They're ripe here now, I ate a bunch this morning.
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We just planted a Saskatoon Serviceberry bush in our yard. Just had the first one today. Yum!!!
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I grew up with these as a kid in North Dakota. We just thought we must have lived righteous and good lives because they grew in every coulee and draw nearby. Plus in the winter there were always rabbits in the "juneberry bushes"! Yup, if only I had known I could make bows and arrows from those selfsame shrubs! *sigh* Life woulda been perfect.
For those of you that have never had juneberry, service berry, sarvis berry, saskatoons, or Amelanchier alnifolia , they are much like a blueberry that grows in large bunches on shrubs/trees. They are pitless, unlike their cousin, the chokecherry, but will still stain your teeth/clothes.
My favorite way of eating these little bits of blue heaven is in a bowl with a little heavy cream.
We have them in the Black Hills, but they only grow a foot tall, have just a half dozen leaves and only every 5th plant has a berry on it and they often don't ripen. Major bummer, man.
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Been eating those since I was a kid, we used to call them "Wild Pears" when we were young. They are great eating but do have a tendency to make you go....if you know what I mean