My home in central Ohio has a small front yard with a wild tangle of shrubs, plants, and trees. My favorite tree is quite small, with a sculptural braid of thin trunks and a canopy slung low, just about eye-height. It is right next to the front walk, and in spring it is covered with white flowers, followed by red berries in June. I always assumed the berries were ornamental — only for the birds, if anyone — but last spring my landlady surprised me. "Juneberries!" she said. "These are the best."
Yes, the berries on our tree are edible, and it turns out that they are native to the United States. This tree or shrub has many, many names: Juneberry, shadbush, serviceberry, shadblow, wild sugarplum, saskatoon. The official name is Amelanchier. These shrubs grow in nearly every state, and throughout Canada, too. They are often planted as ornamentals for their graceful shape and foliage.
But their berries are perfectly edible as well, and in fact, I eagerly look forward now to the appearance of juneberries. They appear in May, and ripen into June. They begin as tiny green berries with a crown on the end, like blueberries, and quickly mature into hot pink, red, and finally dark purple shades. They get sweeter as they mature; the greenish-red berries are sour and insipid, but the red berries taste like almonds and cherries.
In the final stage, the dark purple — almost black — color, the berries are rich and sweet, with the taste of a fully ripe cherry crossed with the slightly tannic flavor of a blueberry. This is when I jealously guard the tree from the squirrels and robins, taking handfuls off every time I enter and leave my house.
These trees don't make it easy to harvest the fruit; the berries are quite small and while there are many on every tree, they don't cluster in big clumps like cherries. So I probably won't be making a juneberry pie any time soon.
But they are a sweet, unexpected treat, something for free every time I walk out the door. There really is nothing sweeter than fruit, unlooked for, from your own front yard.
Have you ever tried juneberries? What do you think of them? I do plan to plant rows of these when I own a home — they're so beautiful and delicious too.
Related: Foraging Resources: Books, Websites and Organizations
(Images: Faith Durand)
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I thought they looked familiar, you're right, we call them saskatoons up here on the Canadian prairies. My grandmother used to harvest buckets of them every summer and make jams and tarts and pies and syrup and whatever else she could think of with them. The syrup is especially good on pancakes.
They are great! They call them sarvisberry in North Carolina, I hear. My grandmother had them in southern Russia. Very few people seem to know of them.
I planted one of these last fall and it just rewarded me with loads of berries. I picked about a pint and left the rest for the robins and catbirds. I found them a tad bland compared to blueberries, etc., but good eating nonetheless.
I baked a tart, brushed it with plum jam, topped with the service berries, and then added a dollop of whipped cream.
This tree has gorgeous fall color too.
Serviceberry (aka juneberry) pie is amazing! A coworker brought it in once after discovering the berries lining his entire block were edible.
Every summer the women in my family would spend days picking these berries (We call them Saskatoons) for pies, jams and syrups. We'd be at my familys' farm, and would spend the day picking berries, lazing by the lake and have picnics!
I had no idea that most people didn't know what they were, I thought it was common knowledge they were edible!
i live in south texas and ate many berries (wild too ) growing up. never have i ever seen these!
i have these in my central OH yard! somehow serviceberry didn't sound like something you'd want to eat. can't wait to harvest some tomorrow morning (before i barricade myself inside from the heat). thanks, faith!
A house a few blocks away has a juneberry tree out front along the sidewalk. I've never had them before, but I want to be the neighborhood theif and steal them, once they ripen.