The Craftiest Workshop

In the spring I came across two trees on the edge of our driveway and the fire pit that had these lovely white flowers growing in cones.

It wasn’t until these green berries started to emerge where the flowers had been that I was able to figure out that they were choke cherries.

Researching a bit, I discovered that another key indicator when identifying a choke cherry tree is the horizontal score marks in the trunk.

I remember picking chokecherries near my Uncle’s farm so I had a vague memory as to what they looked like. I think we picked them when they had turned from green to red. Many articles I read about this berry said to wait until the berries had gone to dark purple before picking.

When the tree is on your property and you can check it every few days, it is easy to pick them at the right point. I checked mine a week ago and many still had a reddish hue. We had company for the week and temperatures above 30°. Our company left Saturday so Sunday morning I decided to go out to pick.

The tree right on the edge had perfect berries, fully darkened and none had started drying out. I picked every berry off the tree.

The second tree a few feet to the left had darkened smaller berries and some had started to dry out so I was a bit more selective with the berries I picked. This tree also had more leaves that had turned so perhaps watching the leaves is a good indicator of when to pick.

I took the berries inside, removed the stems and leaves then washed them in a colander. Unlike the saskatoons I had been picking, many of the chokecherries had the stems still attached.

Our two trees yielded only this many berries.

The berries will go into the freezer on parchment lined cookie sheets then into freezer bags. Freezing the chokecherries before processing brings out the flavour more.

I should mention, in case anyone reading is not aware, that the seeds of the berries, stems and leaves of the chokecherry tree all contain cyanide. If you eat a berry, you must spit out the seed. When you cook the berries, the toxin is neutralized.

This will be enough to make a batch of jelly or a syrup to add to a hot drink.
I am toying with trying a recipe I saw to make chokecherry flavoured vodka…a gift for a vodka connoisseur that I know.

Whatever I decide to do with them, I will relish the fact that I was able to harvest the chokecherries right from my own yard.