| Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. is a small 30-acre farm situated in beautiful Greenacres, WA. We have expanded our berry patch to include blackberries, blueberries, chokecherries, cranberries, currants, elderberries, gooseberries, huckleberries, lingonberries, mulberries, raspberries, strawberries, tayberries, and thimbleberries. Here is some information about the different kinds of berries that we offer on our farm.
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by any of several species in the Rubus genus of the Rosaceae family. The fruit is not a true berry; botanically it is termed an aggregate fruit. The plants typically have biennial canes and perennial roots. Blackberries, as well as raspberries have a more common name: caneberries or brambles. It is a widespread and well known group of over 375 species, many of which are closely related apomictic microspecies native throughout the temperate northern hemisphere and South America. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Blueberries Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium (a genus which also includes cranberries and bilberries) with a dark-purple perrinial berry. Species in the section Cyanococcus are the most common fruits sold as "blueberries" and are mainly native to North America. The genus Vaccinium has a circumpolar distribution with species in North America, Europe, and Asia. Many commercially sold species whose English common names include "blueberry" are currently classified in section Cyanococcus of the genus Vaccinium and come predominantly from North America. Many North American native species of blueberries are also commercially grown in the Southern Hemisphere in Australia, New Zealand, and South American countries. Commercially offered "wild blueberries" are usually from species that naturally occur only in eastern and north-central North America. Other sections in the genus, native to other parts of the world including western North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, include other wild shrubs producing similar-looking edible berries such as huckleberries in (North America) and bilberries (Europe). These species are sometimes called "blueberries" and sold as blueberry jam or other products. Blueberries are sold fresh or processed as individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, juice, or dried or infused berries which in turn may be used in a variety of consumer goods such as jellies, jams, blueberry pies, muffins, snack foods, and cereals. Blueberry jam is made from blueberries, sugar, water, and fruit pectin. Premium blueberry jam, usually made from wild blueberries, is common in Maine, Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. Blueberries have a diverse range of micronutrients, with notably high levels (relative to respective Dietary Reference Intakes) of the essential dietary mineral manganese, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, and dietary fiber (table). One serving provides a relatively low glycemic load score of 4 out of 100 per day. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Chokecherries The choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) is a species of bird cherry (Prunus subgenus Padus) native to North America, where it is found almost throughout the continent except for the deep south and the far north. The fruit are about ½-inch in diameter, range in color from bright red to black, with a very astringent, sour taste. The very ripe berries are dark in color and less astringent than the red berries. Chokecherries are very high in antioxidant pigment compounds, like anthocyanins. The wild chokecherry is often considered a pest, as it is a host for the tent caterpillar, a threat to other fruit plants. However, there are more appreciated cultivars of the chokecherry, such as 'Goertz', which has a non-astringent, and therefore palatable fruit. Research is being done at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada to find and create new cultivars to increase production and processing. The chokecherry is closely related to the Black Cherry (Prunus serotina) of eastern North America; it is most readily distinguished from that by its smaller size, smaller leaves, and sometimes red ripe fruit. The chokecherry leaf has a finely serrated margin and is dark green above with a paler underside. The name chokecherry has also been used (as 'Amur Chokecherry') for the related Manchurian Cherry or Amur Cherry (Prunus maackii). The bark of chokecherry root was once made into an asperous-tasting concoction used to ward off or treat colds, fever, and stomach maladies by native Americans. The chokecherry fruit can be used to make a tasty jam, jelly, or syrup, but the bitter nature of the fruit means you need a lot of sugar to sweeten the preserves. Chokecherry is toxic to horses, especially after the leaves have wilted (such as after a frost or after branches have been broken) because wilting releases cyanide and makes the plant sweet. About 10-20 pounds of foliage can be fatal. Symptoms of a horse that has been poisoned include heavy breathing, agitation, and weakness. The leaves of the chokecherry serve as food for caterpillars of various Lepidoptera. In 2007, Governor John Hoeven signed a bill naming the chokecherry the official fruit of the state of North Dakota. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Cranberries Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the genus Vaccinium subgenus Oxycoccos, or in some treatments, in the distinct genus Oxycoccos. They are found in acidic bogs throughout the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines. They have slender, wiry stems that are not thickly woody and have small evergreen leaves. The flowers are dark pink, with very distinct reflexed petals, leaving the style and stamens fully exposed and pointing forward. Domestic honeybees pollinate them. The fruit is a berry that is larger than the leaves of the plant; it is initially white, but turns a deep red when fully ripe. It is edible, with an acidic taste that can overwhelm its sweetness. Cranberries are a major commercial crop in certain American states and Canadian provinces. Most cranberries are processed into products such as juice, sauce, and sweetened dried cranberries, with the remainder sold fresh to consumers. Cranberry sauce is regarded an indispensable part of traditional American and Canadian Thanksgiving menus and European winter festivals. Since the early 21st century within the global functional food industry, there has been a rapidly growing recognition of cranberries for their consumer product popularity, nutrient content, and antioxidant qualities, giving them commercial status as a "super fruit.” The name cranberry derives from "craneberry,” first named by early European settlers in America who felt the expanding flower, stem, calyx, and petals resembled the neck, head, and bill of a crane. Another name used in northeastern Canada is mossberry. The traditional English name for Vaccinium oxycoccos, fenberry, originated from plants found growing in fen (marsh) lands. In North America, Native Americans were the first to use cranberries as food. Native Americans used cranberries in a variety of foods, especially for pemmican, wound medicine, and dye. Calling the red berries Sassamanash, natives may have introduced cranberries to starving English settlers in Massachusetts who incorporated the berries into traditional Thanksgiving feasts. American Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall is credited as first to farm cranberries in the Cape Cod town of Dennis around 1816. In the 1820s cranberries were shipped to Europe. Cranberries became popular for wild harvesting in the Nordic countries and Russia. In Scotland, the berries were originally wild-harvested but with the loss of suitable habitat, the plants have become so scarce that this is no longer done. Cranberries are a major commercial crop in the U.S. states of Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin, as well as in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, and Quebec. According to the Economic Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin is the leading producer of cranberries, with over half of US production. Massachusetts is the second largest US producer, with 28 percent of total domestic production. A very small production is found in southern Chile, in the Baltic States, and in Eastern Europe. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Currants Ribes is a genus of about 150 species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae. Seven subgenera are recognized. Sometimes Ribes is included in the family Saxifragaceae. A few taxonomists place the gooseberry species in a separate genus of Grossularia. Ribes includes the currants, the edible currants (blackcurrant, redcurrant, and whitecurrant), gooseberries, and many ornamental plants. The Ribes currant should not be confused with the Zante currant grape. The Jostaberry is a gooseberry/blackcurrant hybrid. Many are grown as ornamental plants by the horticulture trade and used in conventional landscapes and native plant habitat gardens. Currants are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera-Butterfly species. Blackfoot Indians used blackcurrant root (Ribes hudsonianum) for the treatment of kidney diseases and menstrual and menopausal problems. Cree Indians used the fruit of Ribes glandulosum as a fertility enhancer to assist women in becoming pregnant. Currant root and seeds are high in gamma-linolenic acid, also called GLA. GLA has been clinically verified as an effective treatment for pre-menstrual syndrome. There are restrictions on growing some Ribes species in some U.S. states, as they are a host for White Pine Blister Rust. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Elderberries Sambucus (elder or elderberry) is a genus of between 5 and 30 species of shrubs or small trees in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. It was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified due to genetic evidence. Two of its species are herbaceous. The genus is native in temperate-to-subtropical regions of both the Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. It is more widespread in the Northern Hemisphere; its Southern Hemisphere occurrence is restricted to parts of Australasia and South America. The leaves are pinnate with 5–9 leaflets. Each leaf is 2–12 inches long, and the leaflets have serrated margins. They bear large clusters of small white or cream-colored flowers in late spring; these clusters are followed by clusters of small black, blue-black, or red berries (rarely yellow or white). The complex is variously treated as a single species Sambucus nigra found in the warmer parts of Europe and North America with several regional varieties or subspecies, or else as a group of several similar species. The flowers are in flat corymbs, and the berries are black to glaucous blue; they are larger shrubs, reaching 9.8–26 feet tall, occasionally small trees up to 49 feet tall and with a stem diameter of up to 12–24 inches. The flowers of Sambucus nigra are used to produce elderflower cordial. The French, Austrians, and Central Europeans produce elderflower syrup, commonly made from an extract of elderflower blossoms, which is added to pancake (Palatschinken) mixes instead of blueberries. People throughout much of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe use a similar method to make a syrup diluted with water and used as a drink. Based on this syrup, Fanta marketed a soft drink variety called "Shokata" which was sold in 15 countries worldwide. In the United States, this French elderflower syrup is used to make elderflower marshmallows. Wines, cordials, and marmalade have been produced from the berries. In Italy (especially in Piedmont) and Germany the umbels of the elderberry are batter coated, fried and then served as a dessert or a sweet lunch with a sugar and cinnamon topping. Hollowed elderberry twigs have traditionally been used as spiles to tap maple trees for syrup. The leaves, twigs, branches, seeds and roots contain a cyanide producing glycoside. Ingesting any of these parts in sufficient quantity can cause a toxic build up of cyanide in the body. In addition, the unripened berry, flowers, and "umbels" contain a toxic alkaloid. Due to the possibility of cyanide poisoning, children should be discouraged from making whistles, slingshots or other toys from elderberry wood. In addition, "herbal teas" made with elderberry leaves (which contain cyanide-inducing glycosides) should be treated with high caution. However, ripe berries (pulp and skin) are safe to eat. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Gooseberries The gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa, syn. R. grossularia) is a species of Ribes, native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and southwestern Asia. It grows naturally in alpine thickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the Himalayas and peninsular India. It is one of several similar species in the subgenus Grossularia. Although usually placed as a subgenus within Ribes, a few taxonomists treat Grossularia as a separate genus, although hybrids between gooseberry and blackcurrant (e.g., the Jostaberry) are possible. The subgenus Grossularia differs somewhat from currants, chiefly in their spiny stems, and in that their flowers grow one to three together on short stems, not in racemes. The gooseberry is a straggling bush growing to 3-10 feet tall, the branches being thickly set with sharp spines, standing out singly or in diverging tufts of two or three from the bases of the short spurs or lateral leaf shoots. The bell-shaped flowers are produced, singly or in pairs, from the groups of rounded, deeply crenated 3 or 5 lobed leaves. The fruit of wild gooseberries is smaller than in the cultivated varieties, but is often of good flavor. It is generally hairy, but in one variety smooth, constituting the Rives uva-crispa of writers; berries' color is usually green, but there are red variants and occasionally deep purple berries occur. In Britain, gooseberry bushes are often found in copses and hedgerows and about old ruins, but the gooseberry has been cultivated for so long that it is difficult to distinguish wild bushes from feral ones, or where the gooseberry fits into the native flora of the island. Gooseberry bushes produce an edible fruit and are grown on both a commercial and domestic basis. Gooseberries are best known for their use in desserts such as pies, fools, and crumbles. Gooseberries are commonly preserved by drying, storing in sugar syrup, or as jam or pickle. Gooseberries are used to flavored drinks such as soda, water or even milk, and are used to make fruit wine. In India some use gooseberry for acidity problem and stomach ache. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Huckleberries Huckleberry is a name used in North America for several plants in the family Ericaceae, in two closely related genera: Vaccinium and Gaylussacia. The huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho. While some Vaccinium species, such as Vaccinium parvifolium, the Red Huckleberry, are always called huckleberries, other species may be called blueberries or huckleberries depending upon local custom. Usually, the distinction between them is that blueberries have numerous tiny seeds, while huckleberries have 10 larger seeds (making them more difficult to eat). The fruit of the various species of plant called huckleberry is generally edible. The berries are small, round, and look like blueberries. Berries range in color according to species from bright red, through dark purple, and into blues. In taste, the berries range from tart to sweet, with a flavor similar to that of a blueberry, especially in blue and purple-colored varieties. However, huckleberries have a noticeable, distinct taste different from blueberries. Huckleberries are enjoyed by many mammals, including grizzly bears and humans. In coastal Central California and Northern California of the United States, the red huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) is found in the Coast Redwood plant community. A prostrate form occurs also. In the Pacific Northwest of North America, the huckleberry plant grows in many places. It can be found in mid-alpine regions, often on the lower slopes of mountains. The plant grows best in damp, acidic soil. Under optimal conditions, huckleberry bushes can be as high as 4.9 to 6.6 feet, and usually ripen in mid-to-late summer, or later at higher elevations. The Red Huckleberry (Vaccinium parvifolium) is used horticulturally in coastal naturalistic and native plant public landscapes and private gardens. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Lingonberries Vaccinium vitis-idaea (Cowberry and Lingonberry in North America) is a small evergreen shrub in the flowering plant family Ericaceae that bears edible fruit. It is native to the boreal forest and Arctic tundra throughout the Northern Hemisphere from Eurasia to North America. It is seldom cultivated, but fruit is commonly collected in the wild. Vaccinium vitis-idaea grows from 4 to 16 inches in height and spreads by underground rhizomes to form dense clonal colonies. The stems are light brown. The leaves are oval with a smooth margin and often a notched tip. The flowers are bell-shaped, white to pale pink, and produced in the early summer. The fruit is a red berry with an acidic taste, ripening in late summer to autumn. The name cowberry derives from an early mistaken belief that the Latin name Vaccinium referred to cows (Latin, vacca, but of separate etymology). The name lingonberry originates from the Swedish name lingon for the species. Other names more rarely used include csejka berry, foxberry, quailberry, mountain cranberry, red whortleberry, lowbush cranberry, mountain bilberry, partridgeberry (in Newfoundland and Cape Breton), and redberry (in Labrador). Because the names mountain cranberry and lowbush cranberry perpetuate the longstanding confusion between the cranberry and the lingonberry, some botanists have suggested that these names should be avoided. The berries are quite tart, so they are almost always cooked and sweetened before eating in the form of lingonberry jam, compote, juice, or syrup. The raw fruit are also frequently simply mashed with sugar, which preserves most of their nutrients and taste. This mix can be stored at room temperature in closed but not necessarily sealed containers, but in this condition, they are best preserved frozen. Fruit served this way or as compote often accompany game meats and liver dishes. In Sweden and Norway, caribou and deer steak is traditionally served with gravy and lingonberry sauce. Lingonberries are also popular as a wild picked fruit in Canada in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where they are locally known as partridgeberries. In this region they are also incorporated into jams, syrups, and baked goods. The berries are an important food for bears and foxes, and many fruit-eating birds. The berries contain plentiful organic acids, vitamin C, provitamin A (as beta-carotene), B vitamins (B1, B2, B3), and the elements potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. In addition to these nutrients, they also contain phytochemicals that are thought to counteract urinary-tract infections, and the seeds are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Mulberries Morus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae. The 10–16 species of deciduous trees it contains are commonly known as Mulberries. They are native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, with the majority of the species native to Asia. Mulberries are swift-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed 33–49 feet tall. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple, often lobed, more often lobed on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, and serrated on the margin. The fruit is a multiple fruit, ¾-1 inch long. The fruits when immature are white or green to pale yellow with pink edges. In most species the fruits are red when they are ripening, turning dark purple to black and have a sweet flavor. The fruits of the white-fruited cultivar of the white mulberry are green when young and white when ripe; the fruit in this cultivar is also sweet but has a very mild flavor compared with the darker variety. The ripe fruit is edible and is widely used in pies, tarts, wines, and cordials. The fruit of the black mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the red mulberry, native to eastern North America, have the strongest flavor. The fruit of the white mulberry, an East Asian species which is extensively naturalized in urban regions of eastern North America, has a different flavor, sometimes characterized as insipid. The mature plant contains significant amounts of resveratrol, particularly in stem bark. The fruit and leaves are sold in various forms as nutritional supplements. Unripe fruit and green parts of the plant have a white sap that is intoxicating and mildly hallucinogenic. Black, red, and white mulberry are widespread in Northern India, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan, where the tree and the fruit are known by the Persian-derived names toot (mulberry) or shahtoot (King's or "superior" mulberry). Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region. Black mulberry was imported to Britain in the 17th century in the hope that it would be useful in the cultivation of silkworms. It was widely used in folk medicine, especially in the treatment of ringworm. Mulberries are also widespread in Greece, particularly in the Peloponnese, which in the Middle Ages was known as Morea, deriving from the Greek word for the tree. Mulberry trees were used for silk production, which was a major source of wealth for the region. Mulberry leaves, particularly those of the white mulberry, are ecologically important as the sole food source of the silkworm (Bombyx mori, named after the mulberry genus Morus), the pupa/cocoon of which is used to make silk. Other Lepidoptera larvae also sometimes feed on the plant including common emerald, lime hawk-moth, and the sycamore. Mulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised as seedling-grown trees are generally of better shape and health. They are most often planted from large cuttings which root readily. The mulberry plants which are allowed to grow tall with a crown height of 5-6 feet from the ground level having stem girth of 4-5 inches or more is called tree mulberry. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Raspberries The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial. The name originally referred to the European species Rubus idaeus (with red fruit), and is still used as its standard English name. Raspberries are grown for the fresh fruit market and for commercial processing into individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, juice, or as dried fruit used in a variety of grocery products. Traditionally, raspberries were a mid-summer crop, but with new technology, cultivars, and transportation, they can now be obtained year-round. Raspberries need ample sun and water for optimal development. Raspberries contain significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants such as anthocyanin pigments linked to potential health protection against several human diseases. The aggregate fruit structure contributes to its nutritional value, as it increases the proportion of dietary fiber, placing it among plant foods with the highest fiber contents known, up to 20 percent fiber per total weight. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, with 30 mg per serving of 1 cup (about 50 percent daily value), manganese (about 60 percent daily value) and dietary fiber (30 percent daily value). Contents of B vitamins 1-3, folic acid, magnesium, copper and iron are considerable in raspberries. Raspberries rank near the top of all fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their dense contents of ellagic acid (from ellagotannins), quercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Yellow raspberries and others with pale-colored fruits are lower in anthocyanins. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Strawberries The garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa, is a hybrid species that is cultivated worldwide for its aggregate accessory fruit, the (common) strawberry. The fruit is widely appreciated, mainly for its characteristic aroma but also for its bright red color, and it is consumed in large quantities. They can be consumed either fresh or in prepared foods such as preserves, fruit juice, pies. Artificial strawberry aroma is also widely used in all sorts of industrialized food products. In addition, strawberries can be frozen, made into preserves, as well as dried and used in such things as cereal bars. Strawberries are a popular addition to dairy products, as in strawberry-flavored ice cream, milkshakes, smoothies, and yogurts. Strawberries and Cream is a popular dessert, famously consumed at Wimbledon. Strawberry pie is also popular. Strawberries can be dipped in melted chocolate fondue as a healthier way to enjoy chocolate. The garden strawberry was first bred in Brittany, France, about 1740 via a cross of Fragaria virginiana from eastern North America , which was noted for its flavor, and Fragaria chiloensis from Chile and Argentina brought by Amédée-François Frézier, which was noted for its large size. Cultivars of Fragaria × ananassa have replaced, in commercial production, the woodland strawberry, which was the first strawberry species cultivated in the early 17th century. The strawberry is, in technical terms, an aggregate accessory fruit, meaning that the fleshy part is derived not from the plant's ovaries (achenes) but from the receptacle, that holds the ovaries. Each "seed" on the outside of the fruit is actually one of the ovaries of the flower, with a seed inside it. In both culinary and botanical terms, the entire thing is called a "fruit.” Strawberry cultivars vary remarkably in size, color, flavor, shape, degree of fertility, season of ripening, liability to disease and constitution of plant. Some vary in foliage, and some vary materially in the relative development of their sexual organs. In most cases the flowers appear hermaphroditic in structure, but function as either male or female. Strawberry pigment extract can be used as a natural acid/base indicator due to the different color of the conjugate acid and conjugate base of the pigment. One cup (144 g) of strawberries contains approximately 45 calories (188 kJ) and is an excellent source of vitamin C and flavonoids. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Tayberries The Tayberry is a cultivated shrub in the genus Rubus of the family Rosaceae patented in 1979 as a cross between a loganberry and the black raspberry. It was developed at the Scottish Crops Research Institute, Invergowrie, Scotland, by Derek Jennings and David Mason. The fruit is sweeter, much larger, and more aromatic than that of the loganberry, itself a blackberry and red raspberry cross. Named after the river Tay in Scotland, the tayberry is grown for its edible fruits which can be eaten raw or cooked to make jam or other dishes, with a cropping period from early July to mid-August. Unfortunately, tayberries do not pick easily by hand and cannot be machine harvested, so they have not become a commercially grown berry crop. Tayberries are mainly grown by artisans and backyard growers. The tayberry fruit are cone shaped and are a reddish-purple color when ripe. Tayberries can be up to 1½ inches long. Similar to the blackberry, the core remains in the berry when it is picked. The tayberry is less acidic than the loganberry, with a strong, tart flavor. The tayberry has a growth habit similar to that of the blackberry. Fruit grow on short laterals on prickly canes 6-7 feet long. Like many other berries, the tayberry is low in calories and high in fiber. Recent research has shown that they and other brambles have other antioxidant properties as well. The tayberry has many uses. For example, there are an ample number of recipes available for making jams and pies. Wine has also been made from the berry, and it is said to be refreshing. Eating the berries fresh is also delicious. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Thimbleberries Rubus parviflorus (Thimbleberry) is a species of Rubus, native to western and northern North America, from Alaska east to Ontario and Michigan, and south to northern Mexico. It grows from sea level in the north, up to 8200 feet in the south of the range. It is a dense shrub up to 8 feet tall with canes no more than ¾-inch in diameter, often growing in large clumps which spread through the plant's underground rhizome. Unlike most other members of the genus, it has no prickles. It produces a tart, edible composite fruit which ripen to a bright red in mid to late summer. Like other raspberries it is not a true berry, but instead an aggregate fruit of numerous drupelets around a central core. The drupelets may be carefully removed separately from the core when picked, leaving a hollow fruit which bears a resemblance to a thimble, perhaps giving the plant its name. The species typically grows along roadsides, railroad tracks, and in forest clearings, commonly appearing as an early part of the ecological succession in clear cut and forest fire areas. Thimbleberry fruits are larger, flatter, and softer than raspberries, and have many small seeds. Because the fruit is so soft, it does not pack or ship well, so thimbleberries are rarely cultivated commercially. However, wild thimbleberries make an excellent jam which is sold as a local delicacy in some parts of their range, notably in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan. Thimbleberry jam is easily made by combining equal volumes of berries and sugar and boiling the mixture for two minutes before packing it into jars. The fruits can be eaten raw or dried, but they are not always very palatable. Many parts of the plant were used for a great variety of medicinal purposes by Native Americans. A double-flowered form of the thimbleberry was discovered near Squamish, BC, by Iva Angerman (1903-2008) of West Vancouver, BC. This clone does not appear to be in commerce, but is grown in the Botanic Garden of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and in the Native Plant Garden of the Royal British Columbia Museum, Victoria. Another double-flowered thimbleberry was found about 1975 by Bob Hornback on Starrett Hill, Monte Rio, California and given the cultivar name “Dr. Stasek,” after an art instructor at Sonoma State University. This clone is sold by one nursery online. Cultivars of the plant are used for ornamental purposes, bred for their fragrant flowers and attractive fall foliage.
Again, we are a small farm, and all items are available on a limited basis.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. www.mountainvalleyviewfarm.com Blog with us at www.mountainvalleyviewfarmblog.com
Mountain Valley View Farm Hours: Monday – Saturday Other farm hours by advance appointment only.
Getaway Studio Dining Room
Directions to Mountain Valley View Farm, Inc. From I-90 East or West Take the Sullivan Exit (291B) – South for about 3 miles |
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Blackberries
