It’s been a great year for native saskatoons or western serviceberry (amelanchier alnifolia). The berries grow on trees of varying sizes in the Dungeness Recreation Area and they’re ripe this month. They’re a favorite of cedar waxwings and small flocks converge on the trees for feasts.
One of our neighbors snacks on these berries and we started grazing, too. Until this year, we were the only humans we saw eating them. This month we met a Cherokee woman who was gathering the berries for a pie and a day or so later encountered an Eastern European couple who insisted they were a type of wild blueberry. In fact, it’s a member of the rose family.
Saskatoons, pantaloons, just plain ol’ loons. Whoever heard of Saskatoons? Not I. And they sure look more like a blueberry than a rose. Which makes the old saying “A rose is a rose is a rose” wrong! 🙂
So do they taste like blueberries? And yes, I’d like a slice of saskatoon pie.
Oh – I had never heard of these before – where have I been? They sound wonderful – I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled for them now that I know they are around – wonder if they are near Bellingham? I’d like a piece of pie also, thank you, and a dab of ice cream on top, if you don’t mind.
Kay, they look delicious. And, you photographed them perfectly. I like the sharpness of the berries and the bokeh. (I look for excuses to write bokeh since it makes me seem smarter than when I write fuzziness.)
ha, i just made clafoutis with blueberries… hmmmmmm
i wish i could go out plucking berries..