Be patient though, these bright red berries aren’t ready yet! They’re too bitter at this stage, but once they’re fully ripe, chokecherries are harder to spot. It’s easy to spot chokecherries right at the edge of the woods or in unmowed medians. Once you see the first bright red berries, take a walk or drive around your neighborhood. The fruit won’t be ripe until they take on a deeper color, but this bright red fruit is easy to spot on a casual drive. In early August, Vermont roadsides are dotted with bushes showcasing their bright red fruit.
BITTER HARVEST MEANING FULL
They need full sun to thrive, so you won’t find them deep in the woods. The berries grow wild on small tree-like shrubs, often along woods edges or roadsides. Dexterous mammals like raccoons then carefully strip the flavorful fruit away from the toxic seeds. Unlike wild pin cherries, which produce individual fruits to be spread by birds, chokecherries produce large fruit clusters for easy picking by mammalian hands.Ĭhokecherries have evolved alongside small mammals, and they’re hoping to be picked by the handful. The berries can be a bit astringent right off the bush, but that astringency fades away with the proper preparation.Ĭhokecherries were a staple of the Native American diet, and are perfect for jelly, fruit leather and homemade wine.Ĭhokecherries (Prunus virginiana) are in the stone fruit family, along with cherries and plums. The other common names bitter berry and bird cherry aren’t any more appetizing, but chokecherries are not only edible, they’re delicious. Anything with “choke” in the name sounds like trouble. I’ll admit the name “chokecherry” doesn’t exactly get your mouth watering.
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