I don't think a lot of gardeners know that serviceberries are edible. It's kind of fun to pick berries from a landscape plant.
Our serviceberry shrubs are still laden with berries as the birds haven't got them all yet, so a couple of nights ago I went out and picked a bowl full. They are small, but nice to pick because you don't have to crouch down like you do with strawberries. They're delicious for breakfast with yogurt or for dessert mixed with strawberries. They also keep a lot longer than strawberries, so I've been eating them for a couple of days now.
I also found out that both my dog, Toby, and my neighbor's dog, Buddy, love them. They saw me picking and eating them after we came back from a walk, and immediately demanded samples.
Both have discovered that they can pick the low-growing berries by themselves. It was very cute to watch. My previous dog, Teddy, used like picking wild raspberries for himself. I guess that like us, dogs are omnivores, and they sure love sweet things.
what a harvest! looks great. I managed to enjoy a handful of serviceberries from my newly planted tree. looking forward to larger harvests ahead.
ReplyDeleteIrena
Serviceberries make great pies especially combined with blueberries. The seviceberry alone tends to be too bland so lemon juice should be added to give it some tartness. They are a bit seedy though.
ReplyDeleteI think more people haven't eaten serviceberries because the birds get them first. We are lucky because there are several mulberry trees in the neighborhood and the birds love mulberry more than serviceberries. We can pick the serviceberry even when the fruit turns black ripe. But because of the fluky spring weather, we have almost no serviceberries this year. :(