The plant in focus: the happy June berry
Hello, happy June berry! Although these prosperous and sweet berries taste delicious when fresh, they can also be preserved, used as a substitute for berries in dessert recipes, and used to produce wine, beer or cider. To create these delicious dishes, you must first find and harvest Juno berries. Get ready for a sweet summer adventure!
Below is an excerpt Chilly-resistant fruits and nuts By Scott Serrano and Allyson Levy. It has been adapted for apply on the Internet.
Joyful June Berry
“. . . June berries have been a source of food for explorers, prospectors and pioneers, who attest to their value as nutritious esculents and pleasant dessert fruits. June berries are as yet rarely used where they must compete with other fruits, although they have many characteristics that deserve praise in the process of domestication. —L.H. Bailey, 1930
Although people have been eating juneberries for thousands of years, they are still relatively unknown as a food plant in current American culture. There are approximately twenty to twenty-five species of juneberry (Amelanchier) growing in almost every part of North America: open plains, forests, desiccated forests, mountainous regions, sheltered slopes, forest edges, coniferous forests, and barren pines.
The different species grow in huge areas that overlap, with their range extending from Alaska through lower Canada, south through the Midwest and East Coast, and into Texas and Florida.
Juneberry: a compact history
Juneberries were widely used by indigenous tribes as an vital food source and ingredient in pemmican, a food that is a mixture of berries, dried meat and fat. Pemmican became a way to preserve the food that helped tribes survive long winters, and the apply of juneberries as a survival food was passed on to explorers who traveled around the United States. For example, Lewis and Clark used diminutive fruits as survival food as they traveled west across the Plains.
In our upstate Recent York forests, juneberries are traditionally called shadblow or shadbush because they produce flowers in early spring that coincide with the seasonal migration of shad fish swimming up the Hudson River. These names are specific to the Amelanchier species (A. laevis and A. canadensis) growing along the eastern coast in forested areas. In western North America, the name saskatoon (A. alnifolia) refers to the shrub form of the juneberry that grows in sunlit prairies and the Canadian provinces above California and Washington.
These plants are juneberries most commonly grown for commercial fruit production and sold in nurseries as fruiting shrubs. Unfortunately, plants sold in nurseries are often mislabeled because many Amelanchier species are arduous to distinguish. This becomes even more challenging considering that different species have been crossed with each other to create numerous hybrids.
Growing a Juneberry tree or shrub
A juneberry tree or shrub can be a great addition to any garden or yard for its delicious fruit and stunning display of early spring flowers that are a welcome sight after a long winter.
Growth difficulty: 2
Juneberry is adaptable and quite basic to grow, although the plants and fruit are susceptible to several pests and diseases.
Juneberry flavor profile and uses
The fruit most closely resembles a blueberry in appearance, but is technically not a berry but a seed that ranges in size from ⅜ to ⅝ inch (1–1.6 cm), depending on the species or variety. They start with green and develop a whole range of colors from fuchsia, through burgundy red, to obscure purple and almost black, covered with a wax coating. The flesh is supple and contains several edible seeds that taste like almonds.
Although some sources compare the taste of juneberries to the taste of blueberries, this is not entirely correct. They have a unique flavor that combines several different popular fruits, including obscure cherries, blueberries, apples and raisins, with an almond finish. Some people may find the juneberry sweet but bland because the fruit is very low in acidity and lacks the sour notes that give many good fruits a balanced flavor. We think this is one case where seeds actually improve the flavor of the fruit.
The fruit is an excellent source of iron and vitamins A and E, and also has high levels of protein, magnesium, calcium, potassium and antioxidants6.
June berries have a compact picking season and reach peak flavor within a few weeks. and the best way to enjoy these fruits is freshly picked from the branches. The fruit can be used as a substitute for any baked goods that require berries. Blueberry pies are amazing.
Description of the plant
All plants of the Amelanchier genus make attractive additions to the garden. You’ll find different shapes and sizes of plants, depending on the species and their varieties, ranging from shrubs that are about 4 feet (1.2 m) statuesque to trees that can be 25 feet (7.6 m) or more. Juneberry stems produce basic, alternately arranged leaves, ranging from round, oval to oblong-oval, with finely serrated edges. Individual species may grow hairy (hairy) leaves and flower buds or completely glabrous (polished) leaves. June trees and shrubs feature brilliant fall foliage in a range of colors, including yellow, orange and crimson red.
Flowers
June trees feature attractive star-shaped white flowers with five narrow petals ½ to 1¼ inches (1.3–3.2 cm) long. They form on drooping racemes (clusters of flowers) 2 to 4 inches (5.1–10.2 cm) long and open in early spring when the leaves have not yet fully emerged from the leaf buds. Although the flowers are diminutive, a mature cherry blossom tree in full sun can produce a spectacular display of flowers that has many of the best decorative characteristics of a cherry blossom tree.
Pollination requirements
June berries are self-pollinating, but will produce more fruit if another tree or shrub is planted nearby.
Juneberry location and soil conditions
Juneberry plants tolerate a wide range of growing conditions, from abrasive sandy soil to indigent quality soil with a high clay content, and can be adapted to many different planting areas as long as the soil is well drained. Because these trees grow in shady forest areas, many sources say they can grow in places with plenty of shade, but in our gardens A. alnifolia and A. canadensis were constantly plagued by disease when planted in partial shade.
Particular parts of the United States may be less susceptible to disease, but we believe that for fruit production June trees should be planted in full sun. These types of plants are often confused and there are many misleading assumptions about growing juneberries. Generally, medium-sized shrub species come mainly from the western United States and Canada, where they grow in full sun. Species endemic to eastern North America typically grow into multi-stemmed, medium-sized trees that can thrive in shady conditions, but will ultimately produce higher yields and have fewer pest problems in full sun.
Resistance
The resistance of the June beetle varies depending on the species and is a reflection of the diverse geographic range of each species. A. arborea, A. alnifolia, A. laevis, and A. × grandiflora are rated as hardy to zone 4, or -30°F (-34°C); A. canadensis is classified as zone 3, which is -40°F (-40°C).
Fertilization and growth
Juneberries are plants that can adapt to a variety of soil conditions, and although they will survive with little effort, the gardener will be rewarded with an improved fruit harvest by enriching the soil with a bulky annual dose of compost. Some types of June berries may be susceptible to sucking; if you want, you can prune them to create a nicer plant with three to four trunks.
June varieties
With so many species and hybrids between species, it can be arduous to know which plants to choose for a specific location. We believe that some of the best juneberry varieties come from the cultivated variety A. × grandiflora, which is a cross between A. laevis and A. arborea, and there are many varieties in the nursery resulting from this hybridization. We planted A. × grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’, which lived up to its name by providing exceptional autumn colors as well as a good harvest of aromatic fruit.
“Autumn Glow”: A attractive shade tree that grows to 25
feet (7.6 m), produces good quality fruit and is hardy to -35°F (-37°C). The variety is fairly pest free, but diminutive amounts of cedar rust do occur each year.
‘Regent’ (A. alnifolia): A compact, early flowering variety growing 1.2 to 1.8 m statuesque and producing exceptionally sweet fruit. It is hardy to zone 4 (-30°F/-34°C) and has good disease resistance.
“Thiessen” (A. alnifolia): Introduced to Saskatchewan in 1978, this variety is a huge shrub growing 3.7 to 4.6 m statuesque and producing the largest fruit of all juneberry varieties.
Propagation
Juneberry varieties that produce suckers near the base can be dug out of the ground using a diminutive portion of the root attached to the underside of the sucker branch. It is best to do this in overdue winter or early spring, before the plants begin to bloom. You can also start growing June berries from cold-stratified seeds; however, as many as one third of the seedlings will differ from the parent plant.
Pests and problems
Rust (Gymnosporangium spp.), leaf spot (Entomosporiumspp.), fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) and powdery mildew are problems that sometimes attack sweet cherry plants, especially during seasons that are excessively rainy. We believe that high humidity in the Northeast may lead to problems with powdery mildew and fungal diseases; Planting trees in full sun can facilitate alleviate these problems. Removing any diseased parts of the tree will also facilitate keep the plant fit.
But so far The biggest pest is birds, which like to strip fruit from trees before they ripen. Still, almost ripe juneberries that have turned a deep crimson red are good enough to apply in making cakes, even if they don’t have the sweetest flavor. Sometimes it is better to collect a huge harvest of unripe berries for baking, rather than waiting a week for the birds to leave behind a diminutive harvest of fully ripe fruit.