This year my goal was to pick serviceberries before the birds ate them all. Every year I lose this battle and only gather a handful of berries. This spring, I changed my harvesting plan.
Birds love serviceberries and at our farm, the Cedar Waxwing birds control the distribution of berries. They’re berry eaters and come in flocks to nibble. I can fully understand their attraction. The delicious purple-red berries are similar to blueberries in size, texture and taste. In fact, the berries are interchangeable in many blueberry recipes.
I need about 10 pints for my jams, baking and smoothie plans. Not a large amount but enough to satisfy my family’s serviceberry obsession. You’d think that this would be an easy task to accomplish with the multiple trees I have. Well, it’s not. The birds have always beaten me to the berries. This year, I picked a day earlier than normal and first thing in the morning. Success! Even though I gathered a day before the berries were fully ripe, they are still delicious and mildly sweet like they should be.
You will not find them at your local grocers and rarely at a farmer’s market. Fortunately, serviceberry trees are easy to grow as an edible and ornamental landscape plant in most regions. They require little effort to maintain and a mature plant will yield thousands upon thousands of berries. They’re also known by many names including juneberry and shadbush. They were a diet staple of Native Americans and are regaining favor with homesteaders, farmers and those looking for something unique and delicious at the same time.
You can eat them raw, juiced, baked into muffins and pancakes or made into jams and syrup. Basically, any recipe calling for blueberries can be used. I like them on cottage cheese, mixed with yogurt, topped on hot oatmeal, over ice cream or just plain. They’re easy to freeze on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. After a few hours in the freezer, move them into a freezer safe container.
I’ve been growing serviceberries for decades and this year was the best harvest for me. I hope next spring I can collect the same amount.