The Wild Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) is native to Wyoming and Montana and grows along creeks and roads in abundance.
High in powerful antioxidants, they leave an astringent sensation if eaten raw (hence the name CHOKEcherry)! Once cooked, however, they have the most wonderful taste! Chokecherry syrup and chokecherry jelly are our absolute favorites around here! We call it black gold. It is a good thing it tastes so good because it is a very laborious process to make!
Tent Caterpillars love wild chokecherries and this year they ate a lot of the foilage on the bushes. I did remove several "tents" (they are like a nest of them - you can see a picture of what that looks like here) early on, but I need to research how to prune and protect them for next year.
Picking Chokecherries is a fun family activity.
Even our youngest helped.
This also turned into a great learning time - you can read about that here!
(We filled that cooler full!)
Dylan was a trooper! He and I alone picked more than half the berries.
Washing, picking the leaves and twigs out . . .
Next, we need to remove all the stems and get ready to preserve it! Hopefully soon!
Wow, lots of great photos and what a reward after all that work!
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