Aronia, aka chokeberry...

[Lycanthrope]

My first time playing with aronia. So far I like them more than I thought I would. Buddy has some bushes on his farm and let me pick a few gallons today.


bushes are loaded and hang in large clusters which makes picking fairly easy...



Sugar content surprised me, they are definitely sweet, but also very bitter which makes it hard to appreciate, should make some good jam tho.

 

[KDM]

Our bushes produce like crazy, but I have to admit, they aren't my first choice for jelly/jam. We mix chokeberry juice with something else when we use it in stuff. We've found Nankin cherry and chokeberry is a pretty good mix though. However, it has an interesting overtone when you eat it that's a mix of pepper, tartness, and that cotton feeling on your tongue you get from chokecherries. I like it on sourdough bread toast. (Very Not Bad)

 

[NDbowman]

I've planted a few on an edge of a shelterbelt. Really produce a lot of berries in a short time. They definitely aren't one to eat off the plant. My mother really likes them for jelly. Likes how the jelly sets up, must be lots of pectin or something. I find the flavor of the jelly to be close but not quite like chokecherry. Chokecherry jelly being slightly better.

 

[BDub]

Chokecherry jelly on ice cream is good.

 

[LBrandt]

Just finished up 64 containers of apple sauce and enough baked apples for 16 pies. If I never see another apple this year it will be OK.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Seem to have some natural pectin in them also, my normal recipe for fruit jam ended up way over pectin, had to dilute it with 1/3 more juice. I think my favorite mixture so far is 4 cups grape puree, 1 c aronia juice and 1c rhubarb juice, 3 c sugar and 1/4c low sugar pectin...

 

[Lycanthrope]

Ive got about 300 aronia on my land, this is the first year ive had a pretty big crop, Im guessing I picked maybe 10% of the berries. The rest hung on the bushes and essentially turned into raisins. They dont fall. last time I was out there a month or so ago the bushes were still loaded with them. When I went out there a few days ago the bushes were picked clean and there were a ton of bird tracks in the snow under them, looks like mostly pheasant. So anyone wanting to plant wildlife bushes, Id consider aronia as they appear to be pretty popular.

 

[Allen]

That's not really any different than chokecherries. So, what's the big advantage with aronia? Faster growing, heavier producing, more disease resistant?

 

[guywhofishes]

That's not really any different than chokecherries. So, what's the big advantage with aronia? Faster growing, heavier producing, more disease resistant?

Bushes, so easier picking - reliable - very productive.

Chokecherries are feast famine it seems - like Juneberries. At least here in the east.

That said, I’ve tried to like various products made from aronia and I find them to be about the least tasty of any of the berries one would grow for food.

The honeyberry reigns supreme!

 

[Jm1986]

I love chokecherries. If I can get past the tartness.
If anybody has a nanking cherry tree I would be willing to come and pick a 5 gallon bucket for myself and you. I haven’t had those since I was a little kid. And the second they ripen the birds clean out the tree in a matter of minutes it seemed like

 

[Lycanthrope]

That's not really any different than chokecherries. So, what's the big advantage with aronia? Faster growing, heavier producing, more disease resistant?

I dont have many chokecherries, but they didnt make it to winter. Maybe the summer birds cleaned them out, or swd infected them or something. My aronia really werent touched until after snow was on the ground, except for what I picked.

 

[Lycanthrope]

I love chokecherries. If I can get past the tartness.
If anybody has a nanking cherry tree I would be willing to come and pick a 5 gallon bucket for myself and you. I haven’t had those since I was a little kid. And the second they ripen the birds clean out the tree in a matter of minutes it seemed like

I dont have nanking, but I do have quite a few Canadian sour cherries that should have a good harvest this year. They are better than nanking in all regards as far as I can tell.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Bushes, so easier picking - reliable - very productive.

Chokecherries are feast famine it seems - like Juneberries. At least here in the east.

That said, I’ve tried to like various products made from aronia and I find them to be about the least tasty of any of the berries one would grow for food.

The honeyberry reigns supreme!

I made some aronia/rhubarb/black currant/grape jam a few weeks ago that turned out great. I agree aronia are a little tough to eat alone, but mixed with other fruits they seem to be fine. Also they are very good for you, contain a ton of anti oxidants, etc. They juice really well in my masticating juicer and I think they make a good syrup, I use 1 part aronia juice to 1 part white sugar and heat to about 180 degrees to kill bacteria and then store in the fridge and it keeps a LONG time. Its really good in coke, kinda like a cherry coke, and also its good mixed with various alcohols. I mix it 50/50 with vodka for a 20% alcohol schnapps that I really like. I can sip on that stuff all day!

 

[guywhofishes]

I made some aronia/rhubarb/black currant/grape jam a few weeks ago that turned out great.

That sounds great.

 

[Lycanthrope]

Bushes, so easier picking - reliable - very productive.

Chokecherries are feast famine it seems - like Juneberries. At least here in the east.

That said, I’ve tried to like various products made from aronia and I find them to be about the least tasty of any of the berries one would grow for food.

The honeyberry reigns supreme!

Agree, they are easier to pick. no pits is nice for processing. Bushes make nice ornamentals to surround a yard with, the leaves are pretty in the fall. Also I havent noticed any disease issues on my aronia, where cherries tend to have more problems.

 

[guywhofishes]

No food smell from my childhood can match the smell of my grandma’s house when she was making chokecherry syrup/jellies. Nothing even comes close.