The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Canadian currants
Native to north west Canada, saskatoon berries are growing in popularity here and require little effort for great results
They’re native to Canada but saskatoon berries can be grown just as easily in Scotland.
Although they seem to thrive on a good winter chill, I also had a massive crop last year after a remarkably mild winter
Regular readers will know I’m a convert to the delights of saskatoons. Also known as the June berry, it’s a fruit which is becoming increasingly popular with gardeners all over the UK. At present there is only one commercial grower – Pershore Juneberries in Worcestershire. A relatively new undertaking, it produces fresh berries in season and frozen fruit, as well as a range of saskatoon products.
June berries grow naturally along the north west of Canada right up to Alaska so in their natural habitat they enjoy warm summers and very cold winters. My best crop was in 2011 following the severe winter of 2010 when the cold weather worked wonders on my bushes. Although they seem to thrive on a good winter chill, I also had a massive crop last year after a relatively mild winter. This year’s crop is looking lighter than usual following another very mild winter but the berries are still ready to pick from the middle to the end of July.
Native Americans have been enjoying the fruit for hundreds of years, eating it fresh, using it in soups and cakes and mixing it with dried grated buffalo meat and fat to make pemmican. This is dried and stored for use throughout winter.
June berries were growing prolifically along the banks of the Saskatchewan River when a town grew up in the area. It was named Saskatoon after the anglicised version of the Cree name.
Harvesting on the Canadian prairies is done by machine and hand pickers and nearly half the crop is brought in by pick-your-own visitors.
The fruit is high in iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium and vitamin C and very high in antioxidants so the health benefits are numerous.
The berries can be eaten fresh during the picking season and are also used in jams, compote, pie fillings and yoghurt. They make brilliant wines and liqueurs and freeze well for future use. A good trick is to combine them with rhubarb, which adds some acidity to balance the sweetness of the fruit.
The bushes are quite dense with a strong root system, making them perfect for landscape planting in shelter belts, hedges, urban and edible landscapes and on slopes viable to soil erosion. They sucker quite freely so chop these out every year, otherwise the rows could get too wide to manage.
Growers started selecting the best examples and propagated these to produce the superior varieties Smoky and Pembina many years ago. Smoky
was the main variety used in the first orchards established about 40 years ago. Later, as demand for this new fruit exploded, micropropagation techniques were used to bulk up other varieties, including Thiessen (this one has the largest fruit size), Northline, Martin and Honeywood.
Saskatoons tolerate a wide range of soils, from acidic to high pH, clay, sandy and loamy, making them very easy to grow.
For garden cultivations, plant single bushes about 6-8ft apart, or 3 ft apart for hedgerows.
Left without pruning they will grow into small trees but in gardens it’s best to keep the height down for picking and netting (the birds just love these fruits). Cut out one or two tall shoots every year, right down to ground level in winter. These will regenerate with fresh new shoots, which will keep the bush young and won’t need pruning for another five years.
They should produce 6-10lb of fruit per bush and crop for more than 20 years.
If you’re in the area this weekend, there’ll be a selection of saskatoon bushes at the City Road allotments open day on Sunday from 11am-3pm. Visitors will also be able to enjoy a coffee or tea with fresh baking and choose from our fresh fruit, vegetables, jams, chutneys and garden plants, including grape vines, geraniums and fuchsias.