Ash Keys?

[crosslandkelly]

Last year the council planted some saplings in our street. I thought they were Ash. This year they became abundant with small berries, some of the trees had ones. others had orange. Are these Ash Keys, and are they edible? Many thanks in advance.

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[British Red]

They are not ash keys, nor are the trees ash.

These are ash keys


Ash Keys by British Red, on Flickr

Mountain Ash perhaps (Rowan)

 

[Mesquite]

As Hugh said, they're rowan, probably an ornamental variety because of the orange fruit

 

[Bowlander]

Mountain Ash?

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[Toddy]

Sorbus of some variety or other.
Might even taste sweet rather than bitter

cheers,
Toddy

 

[treadlightly]

I was thinking Rowan too. From the look of the leaves it is possible. Berries tend to start orange and deepen in colour as Autumn goes on. Check the bark, if it has a dotted pattern, that is another sign it is Rowan. The leaf edges are also serrated if that helps.

 

[crosslandkelly]

Thanks a lot folks. Does this mean the berries are toxic?

 

[ozzy1977]

I would go with an ornamental rowan of some sort

 

[ozzy1977]

Probably not but I bet they taste like S...

 

[British Red]

Thanks a lot folks. Does this mean the berries are toxic?

They are not poisonous but not palatable raw. They can be made into jelly - or brewed with (at least the Welsh did in the 1600s)

 

[crosslandkelly]

Thanks for that.

 

[Toddy]

Depends on the tree tbh. I eat a few raw, but I like the bitter tang; Warthog1981 screwed up his face like he'd eaten the sourest of sour lemons when I gave him one to munch, though, so it's a definite preference.
Some trees are sweeter than others, but they're all, as British Red said, better cooked, they really are.

Think British Marmalade without using any imported fruits, and you're in the right frame of mind for them.

Rowan and Apple jelly is the traditional way to use them. It's good with meat, and not just with lean venison, but with greasy meats too, it 'cuts the grease', as they say.

I like it on oatcakes with cheese or the berries used to make a tangy sweet chilli sauce.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[crosslandkelly]

Do you have a recipe Mary? I'd like to gather a batch before the wind blows them all down.

 

[crosslandkelly]

I was thinking Rowan too. From the look of the leaves it is possible. Berries tend to start orange and deepen in colour as Autumn goes on. Check the bark, if it has a dotted pattern, that is another sign it is Rowan. The leaf edges are also serrated if that helps.

Yes the leave are definitely serrated.

 

[Toddy]

I'll find the chilli one, but the jelly's easy.

Don't make it just from Rowans, it makes a dreadful tasting jelly and it's just a waste of sugar.

Whatever weight of rowans you gather, use up to three times that weight in apples....windfalls, crabs, whatever's cheap at the end of the day in the supermarket; they all work

Pick the rowans off the stalks, and rinse them and mostly drain. Rinse (wash depending on where you got them) the apples, and cut them up into at least quarters. Put both fruits into a big pot and just barely cover them in water (skimp rather than drown, iimmc) Heat gently, cover and poach them until the fruits are all mushy, you can mash them up with the tattie masher if you like, but it can make it hard to strain to a clear jelly. If you don't mind cloudy, go for it.

Strain the fruits out of the liquid (big sieve lined with kitchen towels if you don't have a jelly bag) let it drip overnight.
Next day measure the liquid you have and pint for pound or litre for kg, add sugar.
Slowly bring up to a rolling boil, making sure the sugar is all dissolved before the liquid boils.

Just make it as ordinary jelly/jam from then on.
It does need a little skimming if you want clear jelly, but it sets well and it's a beautiful rose pink colour and it's tangy and tasty, and bitter like good marmalade

cheers,
M

 

[demographic]

and bitter like good marmalade

When I was a kid I never liked the marmalade my grandmother used to make because it had "Too much peel in it", now I look for the highest peel content in any I get and don't like the really sweet ones.
Funny how taste matures.

 

[crosslandkelly]

You're a star, thanks Mary.

 

[mountainy man]

It looks like a cultivar called "joseph rock", It has good autumn colour and the berries seem to be left by the birds till all others are gone, tis a nice tree but I prefer the native one though. Very good year for rowan berries.

 

[greensurfingbear]

Rowan jelly goes nice with lamb


Orric

 

[nickliv]

It looks like a cultivar called "joseph rock", It has good autumn colour and the berries seem to be left by the birds till all others are gone, tis a nice tree but I prefer the native one though. Very good year for rowan berries.

Which people seem to be linking to the likelihood of a hard winter...

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