If you are the type of person who loves to find really fresh fruits to pick, eat, and preserve for later, this is the time for berries and late cherries. What a great year it’s been for fruits! The mulberries were falling off the trees a few weeks ago, the cherries came next – both sour pie cherries and sweet black cherries. There are a few left, however it is becoming harder and harder to harvest them and then eliminate the little white worms eating around the pit. Everything loves cherries!!
I’m focusing on the huge crop of Saskatoons – also known as Juneberries, Serviceberries, and Shadbush. There botanical name is Amelanchier alnifolia, and they grow from Alaska to Colorado. In Denver they are used as an ornamental bush or tree, and they are getting ripe now! Looking like blueberries on a large bush or tree, (check out my video) they are best when cooked. I like to make jam or jelly, syrup, and use them in pie, muffins, or pancakes. This fruit was also used dried and mixed with dried meat and fat to make pemmican by the Native Americans.
Let me know if you have too many to pick and use or don’t want to bother. I’m still looking for sources of Elderberry and want flowers as well as berries. The flowers are out now (I think). Enjoy!!
the hot oil until wilted and bright green. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and serve with a splash of your favorite vinegar. Enjoy!
The first one is Chickweed. This little low growing plant is very tender and doesn’t last long here on the Front Range unless it gets regular moisture. So look for it where it is relatively sheltered and damp still during the Spring. If you were back East, it is sometimes considered a pest plant because it is so prolific. Not here, except in tiny moist eco-niches. It is too dry and in many places the soil is too sandy. Chickweed is a delicious little addition to a salad and some think it has a taste similar to beet greens. If there is a ‘bite’ to the plant, it is more on the lemony side, not bitter. All the aerial parts are edible after careful washing. It is also an amazing addition to salves for rashes and scrapes and you can just chew it a bit and put it right on a rash if you are outside and it is available.
My other yummy plant today is curly or yellow Dock. It is a fast growing plant that in some places has already put up a flower stalk. The leaves are quite spinach like and can be used as a quick cooking green. The ribs can be removed on the larger leaves or left on. They are a bit chewy but good. The leaves can also be used for roll-ups or wraps if you steam them for a minute to make them a little more flexible. Just cover one side of the leaf with filling and roll up! Delicious! Many people used to pick Dock on the way home from work to have fresh greens for supper. That’s still a good idea.
