Saskatoon berry

[svalli]

Is anyone growing saskatoon (Amelanchier alnifolia)? They are newcomers here in Europe and are said to be suitable for our region. We purchased today four plants from local nursery; two are variety called Smoky and two Northline.

We have an old field, which we would like to put growing something edible and after reading about saskatoons, I thought we should try them.

[salix]

They grow wild in my back yard and all through the "bush" hereabouts, very hardy shrubs and quite attractive in the spring. The berries are very nice in a good year but can be a bit dry and seedy in a dry season. The cultivated varieties such as you purchased tend to be larger and less seedy. Good luck with your new venture.

P. S. they make nice jams, pies etc., and mix well with other fruits. I have always thought they had a slight flavour of almond.

[Sherry_AK]

We have some 'Regent' Saskatoon. They have been very hardy here. The past couple years, though, production has been down. I think some pruning might be in order, as I think I read some time ago that fruit production is best on 3-year wood.

[Lilypon]

I personally love the flavour of Saskatoons (way more flavourful than blueberries). This past weekend we picked handfuls from the wild ones growing along the walking trails in our river valley park (I ate so many I hiccuped all the way home).

These varieties are available here. I am seriously eyeing some the tissue culture ones listed below for our garden http://www.dnagardens.com/catalogue.htm#Saskatoon :

Fancy, large fruited saskatoons are so desirable. Plant the best and get true value. Plant our tissue culture material where a Martin is a Martin, Honeywood is a Honeywood and a Theissen is a Theissen... You get the idea.

Honeywood
Good fruit size at 16 mm with full and tangy flavor. Flowers 4 - 8 days later than most other varieties and also ripens later. We like the vase shape habit of growth and the low suckering. Very productive and consistent yielding. The bush size of 8 ft keeps it in harvesting height. (25 cent royalty)
Northline Larger fruit than Smoky but smaller than Martin and Honeywood. Good flavor. Shorter shrub than the other 3 toons listed here.
Click this picture for enlargement.

Lee # 3 This variety was selected by the late Mr. Lloyd Lee. On our farm, we really like it. It ripens ahead of the other saskatoons and it extends our season. 5 to 6 feet tall, with excellent flavour. Fruit is the same size as Northline. A real winner and most definitely underplanted.

Lee # 8 Again, a variety that nobody except DNA Gardens carries. The parentage, Northline mother crossed with a Theissen father, yields a high quality saskatoon that yields well, has good fruit size and excellent flavour. This one is similar to Northline but it ripens more evenly. About 6 to 7 feet tall but this always depends on the amount of moisture.

Martin This is a selection of Theissen made by D. Martin of Martin Nursery in Langham, Saskatchewan. Average berry size is larger than Theissen and it ripens more evenly. This is a great berry for U-PIK. People are drawn to this berry because of the great fruit size. Prune to keep within easy picking height.

Smoky This is the saskatoon everybody knows. Fruit is large, round and sweet. Smoky has the highest sugar/acid ratio of today's varieties. Habit is upright and spreading and suckers freely. An oldy but a goody, it just keeps on producing and producing. Berry size is 14 mm with a shrub size of 8 ft.

[Lilypon]

Here's a few wild ones I managed to leave on the bush until the pic was taken (they are sooooooooooo good)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the wild ones were a really nice size this year! Yummy!


Click for Larger Size

[svalli]

It is great to hear that the berries taste good. We have Amelanchier spicata planted as a hedge around our city lot. The berries look like Saskatoon berries, but are smaller, quite dry and seedy, so those are not usually eaten.

I wonder if the Saskatoon would naturalize here from seeds spread by birds. It would be great addition to the wild berries we pick now.

[Lilypon]

Originally Posted by svalli

I wonder if the Saskatoon would naturalize here from seeds spread by birds. It would be great addition to the wild berries we pick now.

They certainly spread that way here so I'm sure Finland will eventually have a nice clumps of wild ones growing.

If you can supply regular watering to your bushes you will be amazed just how large those berries can grow. When we lived up in North Battleford (close to the Boreal forest) we had an fantastic crop one year. The wild Saskatoons were the size of grapes (I've never seen them that large before).

BTW If you know frost is coming, and yours is about to bloom, try to protect them (a lot of fruit is lost to late frosts).

[Lilypon]

BTW here is an article you probably would be interest in (if you haven't already seen it): http://www.prairieberries.com/

"
Saskatoon berries can be considered as one-kind of ‘Superfruit’. The word ‘Superfruit’ refers to fruit which contains high sources of antioxidants. From a nutraceutical perspective, antioxidant rich fruits have anti-cancer, anti-aging, and anti-heart problem effects on human body. The benefits of antioxidant have contributed against cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and act as a protective guard to our immune systems.
The ORAC (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) value is one of the methods used to measure the total antioxidant activity in fruit. In the tables below the ORAC values show saskatoon berries are naturally high in antioxidants and rank highest in both fresh fruit and in fruit pulp relative to other common fruits."



Click on the link to see their chart.

[svalli]

Interesting article - one of the reasons why I would like to grow saskatoons is the high anthocyanin levels in them. Wild blueberries from Finland have been marketed as healthy miracle berries, but it seems that saskatoons are even better.

When biking back from grocery store this evening, I noticed that one house on our street has a huge saskatoon bush as a hedge. It is full of ripe berries and it feels bad that nobody is picking them. The people living in the house may not even know that the berries are edible.

[Lilypon]

If it is a Saskatoon bush it really is a crying shame that they aren't! Here patches of wild Saskatoons are a jealously guarded secret (since many people in the towns and cities don't grow their own). People will spend hours stripping the bushes (of course it takes longer when half the pickings go into their tummies).

BTW are chockecherry bushes available in Finland?

[Sherry_AK]

Does anyone know the optimum time of year to prune these?

[Lilypon]

Sherry I'd trust what these folks have to say:

"Pruning
Saskatoons produce fruit on the previous year's growth and on older wood. Generally, the younger, more vigorous branches yield the best quality fruit. Pruning should be done early in the spring after the danger of severe cold weather has passed, but before bud break. Prune to control the height of the bushes; a height of 2 m is ideal. Remove all diseased, damaged and weak growth. Cut off low branches and thin the center to keep it open. After the plants are 6 to 7 years old, prune out a few 5- to 7-year-old branches yearly to encourage new and vigorous shoot growth. Older shrubs can be rejuvenated by cutting them back to ground level and allowing new sprouts to grow."
http://www.saskfruit.com/modules.php...ticle&artid=29

Svalli there is a lot of information at the above link that I'm positive you'll find useful as well.

[Sherry_AK]

Lilypon -- Thanks very much. I'll make a note for early spring pruning.

[svalli]

Thanks Lilypon. I have to print and save that information.

Both chockecherry (Prunus) and chockeberry (Aronia) are available here as garden plants from nurseries.