I've learned that I now own a few serviceberry / juneberry shrubs.

Anybody have experience with these? What's the flavor like? Should I just let them go wild, or should I take the time and effort to properly prune them and perhaps mulch them?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 19, 2001

Answers

Paul, what do they look like? I am curious as we seem to have blackberries but I believe these are 3-4 weeks early and a little bitter!

If you can eat serviceberries I would certainly just taste it! I can not find serviceberries in our old dictionary or encyclopedia.

-- Lynn (Johnnypfc@yahoo.com), June 19, 2001.

It's a big shrub.

I don't know what they taste like. All I know is that we have several shrubs. They are also called Juneberries.

It sounds like birds usually eat the berries.

If they can be really tasty, I might take one shrub and prune it, mulch it, etc. to see what comes of it.

I've found some info on the web, but nothing about what it tastes like or if it is worth the effort of caring for it.

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 19, 2001.

Serviceberries/Juneberries a.k.a. Shadblow, Sarvis, Saskatoon berries. From what I've read sounds like they are mostly ornamental but of great benefit to wildlife especially birds. Carla Emory does suggest putting them in pancakes because they are really bland until you cook them. Or you can use them as a filler with other berries. I've also read that they are good in jams, cobblers, and pies but it seems like that would be really labor intensive. Maybe worth trying once though. I don't think I wouldput in too much time pruning,etc. Especially since they are a wild plant. We have a beautiful example growing in our valley. It is aprox. 20feet tall and wide and as far as I know no one has ever done a thing to it. Lynn, sounds like you have dewberries. They are usually more prostrate than blackberries (we have some that are almost a ground cover) and ripen earlier, too. Hope this helps.

-- Bren (WAYOUTFARM@skybest.com), June 19, 2001.

Paul, eat em all up. They can take a harsh winter so are grown quite widely in Canada. They have a smokey mildly sweet taste, and make a great pie. Similar to blueberries they are ripe when turn a littie soft. Not nearly as sweet as most southern fruit, but they don't have alot of pests, and benefit from manuring and pruning.

-- Harald(Ont) (hsdmh@aol.com), June 19, 2001.

We had a long wide row of sarvis berries on the farm where my 7 brothers and I grew up. Mom never got a chance to cook with them! They are best when they are purple, but we usually didn't wait for that. Red was just fine, thank you. I don't remember that we ever took any to the house, just stood there and picked and ate. Don't know if the bushes are still there. We didn't do anything with them like pruning or spraying. Hoot might know if they are still there.

-- ruth in se illinois (bobtravous@email.com), June 19, 2001.

Are you sure you don't have wild blueberries or huckleberries? Juneberries can grow to fair sized trees. I've got a bunch of them here, but all of the berries are too high to pick. They do taste good.

Try them and use them in any blueberry recipe.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), June 19, 2001.

we have a service berry tree out front filled with berries,they taste great but are "seedy" I mix them with any other berries and make muffins and pancakes with them.

-- renee oneill{md.} (oneillsr@home.com), June 19, 2001.

We just planted Service Berries (10 of them) this spring. We already had a couple of these and simply love them. They taste as well as blueberries raw or cooked. (I think carla emery was refering to huckleberries in an above e-mail.) The birds like them a lot too and so we cover them with floating row cover when the berries are about ripe. We've made muffins and pies with them so far and they are great. Just my two cents! - carol

-- Carol Kumher (kumhome@aptalaska.net), June 19, 2001.

The only way I know that these are serviceberries is that the guy I bought the property from said so.

The bushes are huge! More like trees!

Seedy? Are the seeds like rocks or pits?

-- Paul Wheaton (paul@javaranch.com), June 20, 2001.

Funny that this thread should appear as we've just started picking the berries this week. Around here they are sold as trees and I really think that that's what they are. Definitely not a bush. Beautiful white blossoms in very early spring and bright red leaves in the fall (at least here in Michigan)with a lovely multi-trunk. Disease and pest free. Just plant and enjoy. The berries are red, very sweet and look like blueberries even with the little "caps". This is the first year that the squirrels, birds and chipmunks have left us any. Yahoo! Will freeze all that we can for wintertime Sunday muffins and will have some on vanilla ice cream for dessert tonight. Ah, nature's sure does provide us well--even in a big city. I highly recommend planting at least one on even a city homestead. They average 25-30 ft. at maturity.

-- Sandy Davis (smd2@netzero.net), June 20, 2001.