When we moved into our home, we noticed a shrub outside the kitchen window that seemed to be a bit of a weed.
Each year we hacked it back. We often discussed trying to remove it completely. The birds seemed to like it though.
I also imagined it would be a huge task. This year, as we were busy with other projects, the shrub did not get hacked back. Instead, it grew and flourished. The birds really enjoyed it and I began thinking about letting it stay. I was then surprised earlier this month to find an abundance of small berries beginning to cover this shrub.
Curious, I decided to download a plant identification app onto my phone. With these apps, you simply take a picture of a plant, then the app takes the image through its system and identifies what your plant most closely resembles. I was surprised to discover my shrub was a chokecherry.
Being originally from Ontario, chokecherries are not something I am familiar with. A quick Google search and I found lots of recipes for jams, jellies, syrups and even flour. I found information on the history of the plant and how Indigenous people had traditionally used it in foods such as pemmican. I also found warnings about being cautious as the pits can be poisonous.
Wanting to be completely safe, I posted my pictures on a Facebook group called Gardening in Saskatchewan. This group, with over 20,000 members, is a forum where folks can share tips, information and pictures about gardening.
There is also a connected group called Gardening in Saskatchewan —Recipes. Members of the group quickly confirmed that yes, my little shrub was most definitely a chokecherry.
They also advised that my berries were not quite ready to be picked, and that they would be ripe when they were a dark purple, almost black, colour.
When I did go out to pick the berries on a sunny morning a week later, I couldn’t help but muse about the situation. Here I was picking berries from a shrub that had first been planted years, maybe even decades ago. I was picking a fruit that I had never heard of, but has deep roots in the history of the province.
Though the fruit is traditional, it was modern technology such as apps, the ability to connect with people across the province through social media, and information being available at the tip of my fingertips that allowed me to learn about it, discover its value and enjoy it.
-Denise Leduc