When are choke cherries ripe?

[ShellieESterling]

I've got loads of cherries dangling from trees now and they're nice and plump. Dark red, almost black...

How do I know when they're ripe, how do I collect them and what recipes can I use with them without a pressure canner?

Thanks in advance guys You're lifesavers.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

They get a dark red almost black color when they are ripe so it sounds like your are just about there. Squeeze a couple as long as they are slightly soft and not hard they should be ready.

As far as harvesting, just pick? I don't know of any particular way of picking them.

Recipes. Sorry. Really don't have any.

 

[patandchickens]

Yes, when they start to soften, they're ripe. You can taste one (be aware it will be very astringent-tasting) if there is doubt in your mind. (In fact, you probably *should* taste one from each tree, just in case there is a non-choke cherry in the bunch that you'd wanna know about for fresh eating or pies )

You harvest them by, uh, picking them Sorry, I have never heard of any fancier method.

All I've ever heard of people doing with them is to make jelly or dessert sauce (aka 'failed jelly' <g>) with them. I can't seem to find my mother-in-law's recipe and she's away for the weekend, but you could probably find a recipe online.

Don't eat lots and lots of the pits.

Have fun,

Pat, where AFAIK the birds have already stripped all the chokecherries

 

[ShellieESterling]

By harvesting, I meant how am I supposed to get to the huge amounts of berries towards the higher branches? I wouldn't want to waste all that fruit.

 

[patandchickens]

Ladder. Or, ladder planted in the bed of a pickup truck. Or, very agile tree-climbing.

You just have to accept you are not going to harvest the whole crop. From the perspective of all the other Nature Critters who have to live there too, and depend on the fruit for survival not just a yummy extra treat, it is probably jsut as well that it's impossible for you to get 'em all. What's left for the animals is certainly not "wasted"

Have fun and be CAREFUL with ladders and treeclimbing,

Pat