Berry season is almost upon us, and Cinda Chavich, CBC Wild Rose Country’s food and cooking columnist, uncovers some new fruit that will soon be ripe for the picking.

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SO WHEN DOES BERRY SEASON OFFICIALLY BEGIN?

We are really just seeing the beginning of the season now.

According to the Alberta Farm Fresh producers strawberries are available, at least some where in the province, in June, July, August and September. The June-bearing plants have already bloomed and set berries, so strawberry season has just begun. Although most June-bearing varieties don’t actually bear fruit in our cool Alberta climate until July.

Day-neutrals – the kind of strawberries that aren’t affect by the changing length of summer days – start bearing in July and keep going until frost, which is usually some time in September or October.

So don’t assume strawberry season ends when the June bearers are finished.

Raspberries and saskatoons are the next big berry crops, ready to pick in mid to late July.

Then there are things like black currants, red currants, chokecherries and gooseberries being commercially grown in Alberta

There’s even a new berry from Russia called the Honey Berry or Haskap berry that’s popping up at U-pick farms in Alberta.

WHAT’S A HONEY BERRY?

This is a berry that’s been cultured here in Canada at the University of Saskatchewan, and now by some growers here in Alberta. It’s native to Russia and Japan, and it’s a strange looking blueberry – almost bullet-shaped and a very brilliant blue colour.

Arden Delidais (DELL-i-day) of D ‘n A Gardens near Elnora is one of the people cultivating and propogating the berry. She has a high tech tissue culture business in central Alberta, and sells the plants to gardeners and commercial growers. She says a lot of people are starting to grow the honey berry, so you will likely see it in farmers markets in the future, or you can head to her U-pick farm to taste them right now. She says they are like a cross between a blueberry and a saskatoon, and are great for cooking – perfect in any recipe that calls for blueberries.

WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW BEFORE YOU GO BERRY PICKING?

Well, remember, you’re on a farm, it’s probably going to be hot, and you might run into some bugs. So bring a hat, wear long sleeves and sunscreen, and bring along your bug spray.

Be respectful of the farm and the crop. That means don’t let your kids or your pets run wild in the berry patch. Most farms welcome kids – as long as they’re supervised – but ask people to leave the dog at home

Bring a cooler to carry the berries home in the car.

When you’re picking strawberries, it’s hard work. Low to the ground and requires a lot of  bending. Pinch the stem to avoid bruising the berry and make sure you only take the ripe fruit – leave the green ones behind for next week.

Call ahead or go to the berry producers websites to see if the fruit is ready to pick before you head out. The Fruit Growers Society of Alberta has a website which lists all of their members’ websites, so you can contact a farm in your area directly. The fruit growers website is www.albertafruit.com

Some U-pick farms sell pre-picked berries. Some – like The Garden of Van Eeden near Bassano - even have sit-on carts that roll over the rows while you pick to make the job of picking far easier on the knees.

There are berry farms throughout the province. Outside of Calgary, the Saskatoon Farm near Okotoks is a large operation, with a café where you can buy Saskatoon pie, and Serviceberry Farm has strawberries and saskatoons. Or you can head to Pearson’s Berry Farm west of Bowden for berries, pie and ice cream. Prairie Berry is another U-pick with saskatoons near Calgary, just east of the city on 22X, and Kayben Farms grows black currants in Okotoks. In the Edmonton area there are several berry farms, including Park Berry Fields, and Joe and Audrey’s Berry Farm. These growers have every kind of prairie berry, from saskatoons and gooseberries to highbush cranberries, strawberries, raspberries and wild black cherries.

ARE WILD BLACK CHERRIES SOMETHING NEW?

Actually, that’s the new improved name for chokecherries. We like to change the name of things for marketing purposes. Alaskan Black Cod is now Sablefish and rapeseed became canola. So chokecherries don’t sound all that delicious, I guess – wild black cherries is more alluring, don’t you think?

Speaking of cherries, we also grow pin cherries in Alberta, and there’s a new sour cherry in production at several berry farms around the province – another “discovery” by the plant scientists at the University of Saskatchewan. This is a hardy dwarf northern version of a sour cherry that is grown commercially in the northern US for pie fillings – and there are plans to increase sour cherry production across the prairies with these new Evans Cherries developed at the U of S. Arden Delidais also has the license to grow and propogate these plants here at her D ‘n A Gardens near Elnora in central Alberta. There are several different varieties, and some are almost as large as the sweet B.C. eating cherry and will be harvested later in the summer so I’m sure we will be talking more about these homegrown cherries in the future.

ARE BERRIES GOOD FOR YOU?

Very good. Every berry is a bit different in its nutritional profile, so it makes sense to combine them in fruit salads or pies.

According to research done by the B.C. Blueberry growers all berries, like blueberries, are very high in flavinoids, a phytonutrient with antioxidant properties. Flavinoids are also anti-inflammatory so may help reduce chronic diseases like heart disease and stroke, Alzheimer’s diabetes and even obesity.

Blueberries are the highest in antioxidants but other berries, like raspberries and strawberries have similar properties.

And berries, like most fruits, are high in vitamins and fibre.

Traditionally, blueberry syrup was used as a cure for coughs and it’s claimed that strawberries can alleviate sunburn and blemishes if cut and placed directly on the skin.

First Nations people used dried saskatoon berries to augment pemmican, the powdered berries adding Vitamin C and acting as a preservative to the dried meat that sustained them over long prairie winters.

Strawberries are high in Vitamin C, too – eight berries have as much Vitamin C as an orange and they’re high in folic acid.

Berries are also very low in calories. A half cup of blueberries has 43 calories.

And the sour cherries are very high in melatonin and antioxidants – with 10 times the anti-inflammatory properties of aspirin – so you might put them into the nutraceutical category, too.

SO WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO EAT BERRIES?

Berries are great to eat fresh, by the bowlful, sprinkled on your cereal, tossed into pancake batter or salads. Make a fruit salad with berries, melon and citrus fruit, or stir berries into partially-set fruit-flavoured gelatin, pour into individual cups and chill for kid-friendly snacks.

Berries make a healthy snack and of course they are delicious in all kinds of baking, whether it’s a saskatoon or blueberry pie, strawberry shortcake or muffins shot with black currants. It’s also nice to mix berries – blueberries, raspberries, strawberries – for bumbleberry pies and cobblers.

Berries make an appearance in savoury dishes too – duck breast with a saskatoon berry sauce, black currant glaze for pork, even berry sauces for bison and wild game.

Berries seem to match well with cream – whether it’s whipped or frozen –  and with other dairy products. Dried blueberries or currants are nice with cheeses like Brie and Camembert.

Or you can make layered parfaits of berries, and lemon yogurt – even add a few crushed amaretti cookie crumbs to the layers for added flavor and crunch.

Or you can make fruit smoothies with berries. If you cook the berries with a little sugar and keep them in the fridge you always have the making of a healthy breakfast shake – just combine some cold cooked fruit, some plain yogurt and a few ice cubes in the blender, and zoom it up into a healthy breakfast drink.

ANY TIPS FOR STORING THEM?

Don’t wash berries until you’re ready to use them. Strawberries keep best with the green cap intact so try to pick them that way. Leave that cap on while you’re rinsing so the berries don’t absorb too much water.

Raspberries and saskatoons are best kept in a container in the fridge or frozen. You can freeze saskatoons without any preparation. Just rinse and dry before freezine in bags or container. Raspberries can be frozen individually by laying them out on a tray – then you can package them when they’re frozen.

Strawberries can be frozen whole or sliced. You can toss them with sugar to taste and pack into containers.

Or, of course, you can make strawberry jams. You can make a cooked version or a fresher no-sugar version with the new pectin products, just mash the berries and combine with white grape juice and pectin and tour into jars and seal.

click here for Cinda’s berry recipes...

copyright Cinda Chavich

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