It’s the Berries
Rejoice, berry lovers. The first local red raspberries are hitting our region’s markets. I secured a half-pint from Ellis Family Farms (Benton Harbor, Michigan) during a beat-the-heat early morning visit to SOAR Farmers Market in downtown Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood. (Ellis also still has sweet-ripe strawberries and the asparagus keeps on keeping on.)
Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois) is one of the few local growers of Saskatoon berries. I picked up a container — Barb is a fan of a Canadian Western TV series in which Saskatoon pie gets a lot of mentions — and they are a treat.
So what is a Saskatoon (besides the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan)? Let’s go right to the experts at Saskatoon Berry Institute of North America:
Saskatoon berries (Amelanchier alnifolia) look much like blueberries, though they are more closely related to the apple family. Many would describe the taste of saskatoon as having a sweet, nutty almond flavor. They are also high in fiber, protein and antioxidants. Berries ripen in late June or early July. They are also available throughout the year when frozen. They grow in many conditions, from sea level to mountain peaks, and are less picky about soils conditions than blueberries. Like their apple cousins, saskatoons continue to ripen after they are picked. Fully mature berries are sweeter and have a fuller fruit flavor, but are softer and more easily damaged….
Saskatoon berries have a variety of names throughout North America, including: prairie berry, serviceberry, shadbush, juneberry and, in past centuries, pigeon berry. The saskatoon name is reportedly an anglicization from the Cree language word misâskwatômina (Mis-sack-qua-too-mina), which means “the fruit of the tree of many branches”. This Cree word is also the source of the city name Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which is located on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River.
Try some, and keep this in mind in case it ever comes up on Jeopardy.
Chicago weather can make you a little crazy. SOAR Market — located on the plaza in front of the Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesdays from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. — opened for the season just two weeks ago on a cloudy day with a stiff lake breeze that had vendors and customers all bundled up. Today, on the day of the Summer Solstice, it was still comfortable early this morning, but folks at SOAR were dressed appropriately to a forecast that the high temperature could tip into triple digits.
It was a speedy but productive visit. I picked up English peas, heirloom tomatoes and those Saskatoons from Nichols; asparagus, strawberries and raspberries from Ellis; little baby carrots from Lane’s End Farm (Lowell, Indiana); and sourdough bread from Bennison’s Bakery of Evanston, Illinois (and nope, we’re not related in the least).
That’s it for today. Stay cool and carry a tote bag.