bird cherries
- Thread starter Tengu
- Start date
I take it you don't have woodpigeons then ? 
My friendly neighbourhood poacher loves the gean season 'cos the birds are so full and lazy he gets dozens in a day.
I'm not fond of the bird cherries though I love fresh cultivated fruit variety ones.
cheers,
Toddy
My friendly neighbourhood poacher loves the gean season 'cos the birds are so full and lazy he gets dozens in a day.
I'm not fond of the bird cherries though I love fresh cultivated fruit variety ones.
cheers,
Toddy
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I am off to pick a bag of bird cherrys and gean this morning. None of them are sweet enough to eat raw around here so i am going pot some up in syrup and bottle some in brandy. I always find the latin names confuse me a bit with cherrys, prunus avium=gean, prunus padus=bird cherry. They both can be called wild cherry.
Prunus padus should be stoned be for use, as it can have a bit too much cyanide in the seed. The cherry-plums [myrobalan] has hardly fruited this year, but cherries are all heaving, last year it was the complete opposite.
Prunus padus should be stoned be for use, as it can have a bit too much cyanide in the seed. The cherry-plums [myrobalan] has hardly fruited this year, but cherries are all heaving, last year it was the complete opposite.
Ive had a go at collecting too. Just one quick question though.
Is there any good way to distinguish wild cherry trees from bird cherry??
There are two trees near me with identical bark and leaves, but one has almost purple cherries and the other has smaller, light red (some more white/green) cherries. They are within 50 feet of eachother so I dont think its the maturity of the fruit that differs.
Stu
Is there any good way to distinguish wild cherry trees from bird cherry??
There are two trees near me with identical bark and leaves, but one has almost purple cherries and the other has smaller, light red (some more white/green) cherries. They are within 50 feet of eachother so I dont think its the maturity of the fruit that differs.
Stu
Well, for a start, Bird Cherry (Prunus padus) fruits later than the wild cherry or Gean (Prunus avium). Gean fruits are variable, we have them through from yellowish with a red blush, through to red & deep purple/black. Don't forget that some you come across may be deliberate plantings or garden escapes too.
Bird cherries are indeed black, but are held along a branch like sting or strand whereas wild cherries hang in disinct bunches on long stems eminating from a single point. Have a look at the link for a good set of pics that give you a comparison of flowers & fruit.
http://www.hainaultforest.co.uk/5Bird%20cherry.htm
I have eaten Bird cherries and found some to be ok - but that's a matter of trial and error - as with wild ones some may be sweeter than others.I've also cooked with them, sieving out the stones.
Bird cherries are indeed black, but are held along a branch like sting or strand whereas wild cherries hang in disinct bunches on long stems eminating from a single point. Have a look at the link for a good set of pics that give you a comparison of flowers & fruit.
http://www.hainaultforest.co.uk/5Bird%20cherry.htm
I have eaten Bird cherries and found some to be ok - but that's a matter of trial and error - as with wild ones some may be sweeter than others.I've also cooked with them, sieving out the stones.
Cheers, dont know what the hell ive been eating then......oh well....im still here!!!
Ill have to take some photos and post them for ID. They are "garden" tree's BTW. I suppose they could be NEITHER.
Stu
J
jackmcmanus21
Guest
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
i have foraged wild cherries [p. avium] today, and they were mostly quite nasty, they smelt a bit of prussic acid raw and were bitter. cooked them in sugar with the lid off the pan and have put them in jar with brandy on them. Where I picked them from they were varied from completely unripe green through yellow to dark red. If it wasn't completely pouring with rain I would of picked black cherries on the next hill, these are far sweeter, I thought these where bird cherry when i saw them but now I pretty sure that they are rum cherry [p. serotina].
The cherry to avoid is cherry laural and that has smooth shiny leaves like rhododendrons, that usually fruits quite a bit later in the year. The fruit is black tastes like amaretto sweetened with saccharin.
The cherry to avoid is cherry laural and that has smooth shiny leaves like rhododendrons, that usually fruits quite a bit later in the year. The fruit is black tastes like amaretto sweetened with saccharin.
This is where it gets interesting, because I know of people who have, and and do use them. They are decribed as in various places, (including pfaf) as edible* (note I use 'described', that's not an open invitation to folks to test this out, or if you do decide to experiment don't blame me for any consequences!).
* http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Prunus+laurocerasus
I know of them as a liquer, where the fruits are steeped in Brandy for instance and they can be used as a preserve.
The kicker is the cyanide content. Consuming bitter or unripe fruits should be avoided, as should eating the pits or kernels.
And just to muddy the waters further, there's also the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas - also known as the cherry dogwood), a smallish shrubby tree with yellow flowers and edible red oval shaped cherry like fruits: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Cornus+mas
* http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Prunus+laurocerasus
I know of them as a liquer, where the fruits are steeped in Brandy for instance and they can be used as a preserve.
The kicker is the cyanide content. Consuming bitter or unripe fruits should be avoided, as should eating the pits or kernels.
And just to muddy the waters further, there's also the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas - also known as the cherry dogwood), a smallish shrubby tree with yellow flowers and edible red oval shaped cherry like fruits: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Cornus+mas
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
The first nation people make wild chokecherry safe by cooking or drying it, which is why i cooked mine with the lid off. Cooking or otherwise processing the fruit causes the fruit acids to react the cyanide compounds and deactive them. Don't sue me if you die anyone!!. The end product of what i made tasted like cough mixture.
Chokecherry is grown in parks in britain BTW. Like wild cherry they taste pretty bad raw, if you aren't sure don't eat it. The wild cherries I used where more ripe looking than the picture in roger phillips wild food. I still haven't gone to get the alright tasting ones as I was viewing at my brand new allotment
.
Chokecherry is grown in parks in britain BTW. Like wild cherry they taste pretty bad raw, if you aren't sure don't eat it. The wild cherries I used where more ripe looking than the picture in roger phillips wild food. I still haven't gone to get the alright tasting ones as I was viewing at my brand new allotment
.
Congratulations on getting your allotment, I'm still waiting to hear from our Parish Council about our enquiry.
Will you be growing wild or cultivated foods? I'd love to have an allotment full of 'weeds' so that I could explain to people how useful they are. It would be fun to do if only to see their faces
Your mentioning Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana) reminded me of this: http://www.wildfoods.info/wildfoods/chokecherry.html Which makes for interesting reading (especially the bits about making fruit leathers)
Will you be growing wild or cultivated foods? I'd love to have an allotment full of 'weeds' so that I could explain to people how useful they are. It would be fun to do if only to see their faces
Your mentioning Chokecherries (Prunus virginiana) reminded me of this: http://www.wildfoods.info/wildfoods/chokecherry.html Which makes for interesting reading (especially the bits about making fruit leathers)
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
I have an alloment full of weeds!!! some of them are useful, though i am one of those that goes 'oooh goody i have a chickweed problem' I will making alot of room for cultivatars to make it productive. Saying that quite few plants can become a pest, we grew a valerian a few years ago, lovely sented plant, but self seeded everywhere. It comes with hedgerow that is about 80 years old that has Elder hazel, dog rose and blackberry, so I still have good stuff to harvest even without it being worked. I have it because the last residents didn't work it and it is a condition of the lease.
I am doing a detour on the walk back from school to get the better cherries. We collected a bilberries yesterday, a little early the main crop will be in about a fortnight. I am going organise a bit of bilberry fest over the campfire at rough close. I am a bit reluctant organise to on public forum because i don't want the site damaged, anyone interested can always PM me.
I am doing a detour on the walk back from school to get the better cherries. We collected a bilberries yesterday, a little early the main crop will be in about a fortnight. I am going organise a bit of bilberry fest over the campfire at rough close. I am a bit reluctant organise to on public forum because i don't want the site damaged, anyone interested can always PM me.
