To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] aronia
Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:33:38 -0400
Hey All,
My Aronia have been loving all the rain and heat from this summer. The
branches are weighted down with fruit, more so than I have seen in the past 7
years. The chokeberries' taste is outside the realm of typically used fruit
but, the wife and I have made jam/jelly in the past and it was quite good.
We were surprised how comparable it was to those products made with grapes.
Still, it would be nice to have a few more options with the fruit.
I really like my chokeberries. They are native, hardy, very reliable, and
insect resistant in my climate. I have Viking, Nero, A. prunifolia, a
Raintree Nursery selection, and a few wild selections. We do have a few
bunnies in our area but they have yet to really do much damage to the Aronia.
It could be a matter of placement in my yard, tucked away in a corner and
along a fence. Then again, it could be all the other items on the menu that
are drawing them off. Anyway, I really need to get out there and harvest but
the mosquitoes are mean and nasty.
Jim Elie
Green Bay, WI
zone 4/5
---- Michele Stanton <6ducks@gmail.com> wrote:
> Does anyone harvest Aronia berries?
>
> Yesterday I harvested a few handfuls of fruit from Aronia melanocarpa
> 'Autumn Magic', although frankly it's dry and a little bit astringent.
>
> What are anyone else's experiences with this plant and its fruit?
>
> One other note: this plant is a rabbit magnet. The only way I can keep
> rabbits from
>
> Keeping it 'pruned' is to keep it netted J
>
>
>
> Michele in SW Ohio
>
>
>