NATIVE FRUITS

[NorthernWinos]

The weatherman is predicting a strong storm tonight with possible 60MPH winds...so....


My Honey went out and picked some Chokecherries that were on some small trees in a flower bed....before they blow off and onto the ground....didn't look like enough to make a batch of wine....

Word has it that the black bears have torn down all the Chokecherry trees out in the woods, they are ravenous from the drought and heat...not much for fruit and water ponds are drying up...


SO...I went out looking for Sand Cherries on some bushes we planted for wildlife....


The Chokecherries are on the left, small and tart.....the Sand Cherries are on the right...larger and easier to pick [I like my job] I will freeze all of them....

A friend has 6 quarts of Chokecherries in his freezer for 'the cause'...I will juice them all out and preserve them in mason jars to make wine at a later time....should have enough for a 6 gallon batch...

I missed picking the Nanking [Hansa] Cherries earlier this summer, the Robin's bring their young and clean the bushes in a matter of days....this summer the Cedar Waxwings have stayed around...so have nets over the grapes already...

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Bert]

Maybe you could blend the two togather...might make for an interesting wine

 

[PolishWineP]

The robins ate all of our choke cherries. I think I'm staying out of the wooded areas. I don't want to meet a hungry bear.

 

[rgecaprock]

I had PWP"s Chokecherry Wine and it was excellent!! Don't think we have them here in the south.


Ramona

 

[NorthernWinos]

We are going to mix the two fruits together...the Sand Cherries are sweeter than the Chokecherries, but they are much alike....
Boy were they ripe...very ready for picking....would like to find one more bush.Jim went looking last night for more Chokecherries and the bushes we had picked 2 years ago were torn to the ground and ravaged....just like the 'locals' said they'd be.One Sand Cherry bush in our yard had a broken branch and no fruit...no wonder the dogs bark all night...."GOOD DOG!!!!"
Our first wine we made was the combination of the two fruits....I might have used too much fruit juice...didn't weight the fruit when I juiced it up...used 18 quarts of juice.....Hummm....maybe too much, but how much fruit or juice is too much????The wine was very good, a heavy red...should be better now with some age on it.

 

[PolishWineP]

I don't think there is such a thing as too much fruit. If you like a heavy wine then you get what you want!

 

[PolishWineP]

I had PWP"s Chokecherry Wine and it was excellent!! Don't think we have them here in the south.


Ramona

Don't forget to give Poor Bert some credit here! He helped a little too!

 

[rgecaprock]

Bert

 

[NorthernWinos]

Went out and picked 16.5# of wild cherries today in a grove near the house, protected from marauding bears by our 2 barking dogs.........

We are a bit confused about them...We picked Choke Cherries a few weeks ago from smaller trees....then we had these cherries on big trees that are ripening now....we always called them Pin Cherries, but looked up Pin Cherries on the Net and see that they ripen to a red color....so...???...these must be more Choke Cherries...these came off large trees...the best fruit is hanging in grape like clusters at the top, well out of reach...think we need a ManLlift to get them...

Anyone else have these later ripening Choke Cherries??????

So, guess we will add these to the Choke Cherries and Sand Cherries that we picked before and juice them all together at a later date...the freezer is getting pretty full....

We will have to call the wine Merry Cherry being as it is a medley of wild cherries...they all taste the same, tart...Choke Cherries make a delicious dark red wine... Will make a batch or two this coming winter...

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[grapeman]

Could they be Black Cherries? They are similar to choke cherries only the trees get large and make very good hardwood. They grow in clusters like regular cherries and ripen about this time. When ripe they are similar in size to choke cherries and and are ripe about now around here. The pits take up most of the cherry and they do taste better than most wild cherries. They should make a great addition to a wine.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We have had some of those large trees die, we set the firewood aside for people who want to smoke meats and we use it to cook on the campfire...
Last year there wasn't any Choke Cherries, 2 years ago there was lots...so kind of got to take them when you can.
These cherry trees can become large trees and the fruit is in larger clusters than the regular Choke Cheries...so might ask the County Agent some time about them...meanwhile...will pick more fruit in a few days and look forward to some good wines in the future...

 

[kutya]

Northern, the cherries look great. The chokecherries are ripening here also, I picked enough for a 6gal batch. I will start when work slows down some. I made some chokecherry wine last year, and saved a bottle for a whole year (something I find hard to do) anyway we opened it, and it was wonderful. Well worth the wait.....

 

[PolishWineP]

We don't have any choke cherries this year but today Bert picked and cleaned 26 pounds of grapes.

They are bagged up and in the freezer for later this year. With the drought this year I'm hoping they make a nice wine.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We don't have any choke cherries this year but today Bert picked and cleaned 26 pounds of grapes. 

They are bagged up and in the freezer for later this year.  With the drought this year I'm hoping they make a nice wine.

What kind of grapes do you have????
How many gallons of wine would you get with that many grapes???? Just curious....

I wonder about making wine with these Concord type grapes that we have that are almost ready??? The flavor is so strong, wonder if it would need water added and how much???

 

[PolishWineP]

I do not know what type of grapes they are. They are free and that's all that counts. One of the bosses at the farm has them in the yard of the house he boughta few years ago. Northern, you'd love the yard! Loads of trees, flowers, shrubs, etc. We just get to pic them in exchange for a few bottles of wine. We also named the wine after them. They may just be concords or something. Bert can tell you how many pounds per gallon, etc.

 

[NorthernWinos]

These are some Chokecherry TREES...the trees are much bigger than the bushes we picked from a few weeks ago, but seem like the same fruit....

As you can see we can't reach these fruits...need to friendly up with a LineMan at the power company and have him come with his magic bucket truck...

However, don't think there will be many berries there for too long, looks like the Cedar Waxwings are eating them as they turn black...
The Cedar Waxwings are also working over the Mountain Ash as they ripen...

Then they fly into the windows of the house and knock themselves out....I tried not washing the windows so they can see the glass...

[at least that is the excuse I use for not washing the windows]


Tasted a Mountain Ash berry...they are nasty...