BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?

Subject: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 09:34 PM

Years ago one of the four clumps of white birch on our lot deteriorated badly, and I cut it down. It seems the white birch was grafted on root stock of some sort of scruffy dark-barked birch. Whatever it is grew up from the roots, and has grown like a weed, as big as the other original white birchs. It's right by, and over, our shed. I just went out to get the lawn tractor out. The thing is totally loaded with red and black berries, the first I've noticed in all the years it's been there.

I can't even remember hearing anyone mention birch berries. Are they fit for human consumption in any way, shape, or fashion? Outright poisonous? Or just another somewhat messy, totally useless (to humans) product of nature?

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:24 PM

Sounds more like a wild cherry, Dean. Can you post some photos of leaves and berries somewhere?

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:30 PM

Anything like this?
wild cherry

more here

cherry bark images

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Beer
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:31 PM

Do you mean choke cherries maeve?
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:34 PM

We have choke cherries here too, but no; wild black cherry is what I had in mind. Choke cherries don't usually grow as big as Dean seems to be describing. What do you think, Adrien?

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Beer
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:41 PM

Yes, I go along with that.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:49 PM

The berries, or cherries, are just little choke-cherry size things. The bark does look a lot like the google images of wild cherry bark. I had just taken it to be a birch variety, from the bark, especially as it appeared to come up from the birch roots. Will have to get good pictures tomorrow. Whatever it is, it took a long time, and got to a lot of size, before it started bearing fruit.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:53 PM

The wild black cherry fruit is small. I'll be interested to see what you decide it is, Dean. We have a locust tree that grew out of an elm stump. Strange and wondrous things happen.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 13 Aug 10 - 10:54 PM

Is the tree form of wild cherry comparable to birch?
Gotta get to bed and pursue this more tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Janie
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 12:03 AM

Look at the leaves. birch leaves and cherry leaves are very different.

The bark is usually very different also, except that both can be shiny and smooth.

Not wanting to put words in your mouth, maeve, but birds love cherries of any kind and cherry sprouts from bird poop are common. When trees are cut down without the stump being removed, they often coppice, which means sprouts grow up from the trunk or immediately adjacent roots. Where there are trees, there are usually birds that perch and poop. Many bird species eat (in the southeast both choke and black cherry are native and common) cherry and cedar fruits. It is not rare at all for assorted cherries or eastern red (I don't know about eastern white) cedars to grow snug up against the base of another species. If the other species is cut down, the bird-sown other species can be even more opportunistic.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 06:53 AM

Hi, Janie!
"...birds love cherries of any kind and cherry sprouts from bird poop are common." (Janie)

Yes, exactly. That's one reason I immediately wondered if the "dark birch" Dean mentioned might instead be a cherry. The young bark and early tree form is very birch-like. Leaf comparison
Black Cherry leaves

White Birch leaves

Our Black Locust, on the other hand, appears to have resulted from one of the locust's traveling root sprouts pushing between the Elm's base roots and up through the disease-compromised wood in the stump. TL has pruned it to make it bushy, and we're hoping it will be mature enough to flower soon.

Dean- If your changeling tree is a cherry you can use the fruit in cordials, jellies, etc.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Ed T
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 08:42 AM

Choke and other Cherry (and related trees) commonly get infested with blak knot. Any ideas about stopping the spread of this disease?

In the past have cut infested branches off...but it always seemed to spread.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 08:53 AM

Ed T,- Our cherries and plums were infected with Black Knot when we bought this land. It's a rare occurrence now, as a result of the conscientious removal and burning of infected portions and clearing of trees for much improved sun and air circulation.

This link contains good information about Black Knot: http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/FactSheets/black_knot/blacknot.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:35 AM

I just snapped these two pictures. I guess the question is answered though, and we've got a wild cherry. The good news is, maybe we can get around to making a little jelly. The bad news is, we'll probably be buried alive in dye-rich bird poo now that it decided to be real fruitful. Had I had any idea what we had here, I probably would have cut it when it sprouted. It has already trashed spots on the shed roof from branchs hanging on it before I got 'em pruned; the berries aren't going to help any.
I just popped one ripe cherry. It will take a few to add up to much flavor, and maybe not much then, at least without a little sweetning to bring it out.

So, I guess there was a reason I had never heard of birch berries.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 09:40 AM

I love the idea of it though! Think of birch berry pie! LOL

Here's a recipe to try:
***********************************************************
WILD CHERRY JELLY        

3 1/2 lbs. fully ripe wild cherries

Use chokecherries, black cherries, bittersweet cherries.

Stem and wash cherries and place in a large kettle with 3 cups water. Cover and cook 15 minutes. Place in jelly bag and strain, catching juice in clean bowl. Do not squeeze bag. Discard pulp. 6 1/2 c. sugar 1 box powdered fruit pectin 1/4 tsp. almond extract

Pour juice into large kettle. Add sugar and stir to mix. Place over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in pectin, bring to full rolling boil and boil hard one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir and skim for 5 minutes. Add extract. Ladle into clean, hot jars leaving 1/2" head space. Follow manufacturers' instructions for preparing 2 piece lid. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes Start timing when water returns to a full boil.
(From http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1923,136182-235202,00.html)

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Bettynh
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 10:11 AM

This is what birch fruits look like. No berries at all.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: gnu
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 10:19 AM

My old man called birch partridge (ruffed grouse) droppings birch berries. The thread title took me aback.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 12:01 PM

I just gleaned 25 ounces from the branches I pruned yesterday. I should have picked them as I went; a lot of ripe ones fell off and got mooshed on the ground. I pruned high enough, to get branches off the shed and drooping ones out of the way for mowing, that now I would need a longer ladder to pick many more.

My wife couldn't eat anything with as much sugar as needed for the jelly recipe; I don't know if splenda or some such will work in jelly or not. At the moment I'm thinking, rather than get into canning jelly for no more than we would have, maybe we'll just stomp 'em for juice. She can sweeten that with splenda, and I can either drink that or use sugar in some for myself.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 02:06 PM

Apart from that, I tried to amputate my leg while pruning the tree yesterday. There's a pretty nice slice about the width of those two bandaids.
Slipped with the pruning saw while cutting a rubbery branch. Really not half as bad as I deserved for getting sloppy with a cutting tool.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Bettynh
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 02:25 PM

If I remember right, Euell Gibbons used to mix cherry juice with lemonade (he made it from sumac, but that's another story). It'd still need sweetening, but it'd extend the cherry juice.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 02:26 PM

You can use Splenda in some preserves; I've seen recipes online. Enjoy the fruits of your labors and....





Take care of that cut!

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Aug 10 - 02:33 PM

A little of the juice in lemonade does sound appealing, Ms.Betty.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 12:29 PM

I got about eight ounces of juice so far. We've been going with the suggestion an putting some in lemonade. Looks like lunch for a vampire, but it tastes good.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: gnu
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 01:20 PM

When does the stand open?

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 03:49 PM

if they are choke cherries be careful of cyanide poisoning

translated from an Italian medical journal

We report the case of a 56-year-old woman who was accidentally poisoned when she ingested choke cherries whose pulp contained cyanide, and describe the acute clinical picture, the neurological sequelae and the neuroradiological findings. After recovery from coma, the patient showed signs of a parkinsonian syndrome, retrobulbar neuritis and sensory-motor neuropathy. MRI showed abnormal signal intensities involving the basal ganglia. Since no memory deficits were observed, we argue that the parkinsonian syndrome was caused by cyanide intoxication rather than by subcortical damage due to hypoxia.


All parts of the plant are poisonous... toxicity is dependant on the individual...

I wouldn't risk eating them.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: gnu
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 04:27 PM

Don't open the lemonade stand.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Beer
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 07:01 PM

That is interesting V/T. In my early teens we use to grab these by the hand full and suck the juices then spit a mouthful of the pits out. Swallowing some as well.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: Jeri
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 07:18 PM

Chokecherries aren't toxic, but the leaves can be. See this article in Wikipedia

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 15 Aug 10 - 07:18 PM

They are wild black cherries, Prunus serotina. The ripe fruits are nutritious.

Are the Italian researchers discussing the same choke cherries found in North America (Prunus virginiana)? I can't imagine how the patiend described in that case got enough cynide to cause poisoning, unless she ate raw, unripe berries without removing the pits.

There is also a group of plants found here called Choke berry, genus Aronia (not closely related at all), as well as plants with Choke berry as one common name, Amur Cherry (Prunus maackii).

Choke cherry (Prunus virginiana)leaves are high in cyanide, released when livestock bruises and eats them. Horses appear to be especially vulnerable. http://cal.vet.upenn.edu/projects/poison/plants/ppchoke.htm

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 17 Aug 10 - 02:12 PM

We ate some "choke cherries" on my grandparents farm, with no apparent ill effects. I was so young, I have no idea now just what the variety actually was. I just vaguely remember that they were tart as all getout.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 06:04 PM

We went on vacation and left some of the juice frozen; let it thaw again, and haven't quite finished it. Not bad at all in iced tea. I just stirred some in Seven Up, and that may be the best yet.

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: frogprince
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 06:10 PM

So far we haven't noticed any indication of poisoni

Subject: RE: BS: Any Birch Berry Recipes?
From: maeve
Date: 15 Sep 10 - 06:11 PM

That's probably a good thing, Dean.