 Chokecherry plants were all over the area I grew up, but they are not found
everywhere. The chokecherry is not found in the far south or far north, so
if you are in either of those locations search out what berries are grown in
your area and take your children to pick some.
The bushes will sometimes be surrounded by plants with thorns so you have to
be careful when you are picking them. It doesn’t take long to fill a bucket,
we used to use gallon ice cream buckets because they were large and had
lids. Have your children help you every step of the way from picking the
berry to making jelly. Although Native American’s didn’t make jelly
initially with the chokecherry, this shows you what it is like to have to
search and hunt for your food.
Chokecherries can then be made into foods; a favorite of mine is jelly. You
would prepare the jelly like any other jelly recipe you may have, and taste
test it to make sure enough sugar is added. A common mistake with
chokecherries is to not add enough sugar to make it sweet. Chokecherries
will also keep if you freeze them, either freezing them whole or freezing
after you boil them down and make juice, which is what you do before making
them into jelly. |
