Come Along With Me ---> Picking The Superfood Aronia-Choke Berries & Making Jam!

in #food6 years ago (edited)

What Is A Choke Berry & What Are The Benefits?


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While on my month long adventure to the four corners I was asked to go along to pick choke berries. There is a lot I do not know in the way of natural herbs, berries, etc., so this was an exciting month to the say the least. I learned so much about natural Native American medicine, herbs, and how to prepare certain foods just in case of an emergency situation. That in code means, it's you and nature to live off the land.

Well, what is interesting about the choke berry is that they are:

Rich in anthocyanins, carotenes, flavonoids, and other organic antioxidants, in addition to vitamins and minerals, these super berries can play a major role in boosting health and treating/preventing a number of medical conditions. Also, chokeberries are commonly used in candies, desserts, cakes, beverage flavoring, yogurt, juice, beer, ice cream, wine, syrup, and can even be brewed as a tea.

According to Natural Solutions Magazine:

Aronia melanocarpa is a plant that has been hidden in plain sight for many years. Aronia melanocarpa is a plant that has been hidden in plain sight for many years. The Native Americans would pound aronia berries into buffalo, deer, and antelope meat to preserve it. Lewis and Clark discovered this highly nutritious, lightweight food and bought all the aronia berry pemmican they could get. They carried huge packs of aronia berry meat which sustained them on their journey.

This is where my teacher came in and explained that this is not only an ancient tradition, but when an emergency occurs this is the best way to survive is to learn how to make pemmican.

So, when a lovely elder from the tribe gave permission for us to go onto her land to pick the berries, we obliged and lesson number one was in effect for Eagle Spirit.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


At first glance, these little berries do not look that great and if it were me I could easily get them mixed up with some other berry and probably poison myself.

However, after picking berries for a few hours got me used to seeing what they look like and what to look for when hunting this lovely super-fruit.

The taste is quite what you would expect and explained in any nutritious information: bitter.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


It was a bit daunting to step on someone else's property and with the dogs hollering in the background was a bit uneasy. However, the lady I accompanied told me it was all well even though we started at 7 AM.

In the country, this timeframe appears to be quite late since most people I learned get up at 4 AM to start their day. I'm still not sure this is the life for me but I can honestly say that it never hurts to learn more and not less. Learning hands on from elders and farmers was a true blessing.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


My teacher was kind enough to model for me and her thumb ring really made it special, sort of an I'm in the country but have a little style too. LoL!

As you can see in the background that it was a glorious day and at 7 AM this wasn't a bad sight to enjoy 'girl time,' and just relax. I'm not sure I could compare it to shopping with my girls in NYC or getting a mani-pedi with my mom and cousins but it was a positive experience.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


Back to the beries, the darker and plumper the berry the better they are for jam and it appeared that the ones that had been getting the most sun were ready for picking.

Funny thing is I started to see these berries all over the place after picking them that day, and I was so happy to have learned these berries an essential part of the Native American diet for centuries.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


The lighter ones wer’ent ready so we didn't pick those ones or the ones that looked like little raisins. We walked around quite a bit and only picked off the ones that were ready.

We went back for a few days until we pretty much cleaned out the bushes. The importance of course was to make jam!


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


After our first day we collected a lot of plastic bags full and filled them into buckets. The buckets were then placed in a cool area of the house to allow them to set but not for too long. Because the four corners in Colorado, USA is so hot during the summer it is essential to get to jarring fairly quick or else the food will spoil.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


The Jamming Process

We washed the fruit and picked out any debris that we found. Then the fruit went into the sink to get bathed and then went into a juicer.


Photo taken by @eaglespirit


There was boiling water in the bottom of the juicer contraption that steamed the fruit and the middle part captured the juice as well as finer bits of pulp. You can see a spigot in the picture above. That is how we drained the juice off.

We had a wooden mallet to tamp down the fruit and that helped to extract the juice. After a while the fruit in the top separated from the pits and at that point we thought the remaining skin and seed.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


We had bags and buckets to get through so we kept going through the berries we collected for the next few mornings after our total collecting process.


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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


Once we finished juicing then we would pounce the berries with a mallet like so ...


Photo taken by @eaglespirit


Then mixing the ingredients together with a very basic recipe:

4 Cups Choke Cherry Juice with Pulp
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Box Fruit Pectin
5 Cups Sugar

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Photo taken by @eaglespirit


Who would have thought that all that berry picking would produce a fine jam that started out like the above and turned into this ...?


Photo taken by @eaglespirit


Of course, everything tastes better with sugar and we varied the recipe to add in different things. The lady I assisted in picking the berries sold a few cases for $8 USD per jar.

I'm still waiting for my free jars in the mail, let's hope she doesn't keep me waiting too long. If she does, then one great fact about this entire experience is that I will be able to find the choke berries on my own and make it by myself. Glorious!

Yours,

Eagle Spirit

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Greetings,
Thank you for stopping by to read my blog. I’m a First Nation member of the Hopi & Apache Native American tribes, Medicine woman in-training, first time blogger since November 2017, (right here on Steemit), paralegal, researcher, and writer based in the Mountains of Colorado, USA. I work closely with fellow planktons and minnows in a few groups by helping them adjust to Steemit and curate quality content. I’m especially interested in finding others who love natural medicine originating from ancient practices, gold and silver, energy work, and the spirit world. Additionally, I'm the creator of #MedicineCardMonday, so if you are interested in receiving a Native American blessing stop by my blog every Monday, or just say hello!
See you soon, @eaglespirit

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Nice post. They look like grapes. How os the flavor after sweetened. Keep us updated. Love your adventures!
Joy

thanks and the flavor is spicy :)

Nice @eaglespirit those "Choke Berries" look very similar to grapes, looks like you got quite a haul for the jam, I would probably be a bit paranoid trespassing like that, (considering all the trigger happy people in your neck of the woods), Anyway well done!!!

thank you FF! we got permission but yeah it was kinda uncomfortable and we worked fast LOL

Permissions are good to have!!!

This meme is from Parks and recreation its a funny show.
=)
/FF

bwahahahah LMAO so hilarious!!!

Yeah that show is pretty funny!
=)
/FF

GOOD POST @eaglespirit ,detailed information about choke berry .I think that jam will be very tasty.

thank you so much, they sell it on etsy!! for like $8 USD :)

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I have a thumb-ring just like the one your teacher has! 😁 What an interesting plant the Aronia is! I'm not familiar with it, so this was a great learning experience! Thank you for the information! 😊

no way LOL let me see the ring!! hehe
oh wow, something you didn't knowww?? whaaa the world is falling the world is falling hehe

How exciting to make your own jam! And I've never heard of choke berries...
And those pictures you took, veryyyy nicceeee :)

hey there my friend, i've missyou! i hope life is well and you are adventuring off into some excitement. big hugs!!

Woooow! this is such a refreshing read @eaglespirit! kudos!

hey thanks so much!! :)

Wow! Very good article happy to know its good for Wight loss and the whole process to make a jam is so different but i bit it's more delicious than the traditional one. Thanks for sharing your great post. Have a nice day.

thank you so much!! awesome, have you jammed before? maybe while listening to jams? hehe
are you from USA? do you cook a lot? i'm guessing by your name ... :)

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