Looking for Sasketoon berries

Just had dinner in the one and only Canadian restaurant in The Netherlands. The lovely lady that owns the place introduced me to the Saskatoon Berry and I fell in love with it head over heels, which means I now want to grow them for myself. However, it turns out that seeds are very difficult to obtain. Maybe one of you guys can help me?

Of course, I would love to swap against my own seeds. Here's the list: http://www.freewebs.com/belevenissen-van-een-tuinkabouter/apps/webstore/

I really hope someone can help me out!

I've seen packets of chocolate-coated dried Saskatoon berries for sale, but never the fresh berries. I do have a couple of Amelanchier bushes, and the birds usually eat the fruit before I can get a taste. I will take a close look at the bushes tomorrow, and will let you know if I find a berry!

What does your Canadian restaurant have on its menu besides Saskatoon berries?

June

Generally people around here would buy a small bush from one of the nurseries, never heard of growing it from seed. There are a couple of speciality Saskatoon farms nearby - I could call and ask them- maybe they could ship you a couple of small bushes in the spring! ( I dont think they sell berries either , just berry products)

Hi Guys
I tried to find seed today with Google and although there was talk of the "seed" the wasn't any direct seed made available.
I will keep looking and I do know someone who cultivates Saskatoons in her back yard so I could get some seeds from one of her bushes.

I will keep checking this thread.
Ann

Also called serviceberry. Here's some info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelanchier_alnifolia

http://www.gardenguides.com/taxonomy/saskatoon-serviceberry-amelanchier-alnifolia-var-semiintegrifolia/
scroll down to Cultivation - describes how to save seed. Seed is viable for up to 5 years.

I knew there was another name and could not remember it- serviceberry!
Thanks Kooger

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your efforts! Keep up the good work!

Maybe you can find a farmer who doesn't mind parting with some of the berries? Unfortunately I'm not allowed to import live plants into the EU.

BTW, I had some polenta with bison pastry for starters, Moose for main course with maple pears and sasketoon berries on the side and a lovely cheesecake for desert. Don't know if this is authentic Canadian cuisine, but it was yummie nevertheless!

I checked website after website looking for seeds and was not successful. Everyone has plants.

My sister has three small bushes. They are not doing well this year because of the free-range chickens and lack of attention - they are building a large addition this year. I'll check if the birds have left any berries. :)

No berries on my bushes, I'm sorry to say. The birds fed well.

Regarding the Canadian restaurant menu, anything maple certainly is Canadian, but I think polenta is Italian. I do regularly eat bison meat, which I like better than beef, but I've never eaten moose or seen any moose meat for sale. I think you have to shoot your own moose, and they don't roam in my neighborhood. Cheesecake is enjoyed all over North America, so I suppose you could call it Canadian. What would be a typical Canadian dessert? I would choose butter tarts, or a slice of pecan pie. With ice cream, of course.

Butter tarts and Nanaimo bars are both Canadian origin I think. Pecan pie is probably southern US since they grown thepecans there.Do they grow in southern Ontario?

Both my mom and G'ma used to make Sour Cream pie thinking maybe that is also a Canadian dish- its kind of like butter tarts but made with sour cream. and merengue (?sp)on top

They do grow very readily from seed though (just like anything else)... judging from my mom's experience at putting old frozen berries out to feed the migrant robins in spring, and also from her planting them intentionally.
Yes, the nurseries do sell specific cultivars, which are just selections from the wild (mainly for berry size, I imagine), and in order to be true to the selection, they would be clones (not seed-grown).

There's no reason why seeds (with flesh removed) or dried berries could not be used to get some saskatoon berry bushes going...

This message was edited Sep 21, 2010 11:33 AM

Good to hear that- what little I read seemed to indicate they were difficult or slow from seed and seed not always viable. Maybe all our Dutch friend needs to do is go back to that restaurant and get some berries -

Wish that would be possible. However, the berries had been turned into jam (and tea). That must have effectively killed them off!

Is it possible to send a package of berries? Of course probably could not get them until next summer and then I think mostly pick your own. Speciality stores around here sell processed or baked products not the fresh berries.
I like Saskatoons -( I grew up in Saskatoon!) and I remember every August the family would make an expedition to someplace out on the river banks( I think everybody had a favorite spot) with ice cream pails etc and pick berries, then back home to clean and sort them and make pies.Now I can go to the farmers market - The Saskatoon Farm has a booth there with baked products and jam etc. - and buy a pie - I cut it up and freeze pieces for later. The natural park where I go off leash with the dogs has lots of bushes and I see people out picking in August.

It's certainly easy and possible to send seeds, but sending whole berries would be pretty messy, and the recipient would end up with a package of moldy guck... (also, given the horticultural industry's importance in the Netherlands, there may be regulations in place to restrict entry of plant material that is not clean and recognizable and could possibly be carrying plant diseases or harmful insects - I don't know.)

The more normal practice for seed-collectors to do would be to thaw frozen berries and squash the flesh to remove it and then pick out seeds and allow them to dry, or to dry the berries and send them...

I am seeing a friend on Friday who has bushes in her back yard. I will ask if she has any left on the bush or on the ground and will get some. I can clean them and see how the seeds look and then send a note to Tunikabouter for an address.
Will keep you posted.
Ann

I'll keep an eye out for berries still on the bushes on my ride home tonight too...

Sorry, checked tonight, no berries left on my sister's bushes.

Thanks all!

I'm still confident that it is possible to introduce this lovely fruit in the Netherlands!

My late DMIL used to make Saskatoon Jelly and it sure was good. I hope you find them. I never see them growing in the east in Canada and I'm not sure why. Was at a Viola Congress in Evanston, IL in 1993 and a friend who grew up in Saskatoon found a bush growing on the campus of Northwestern University there. Of course, it would have been called Service Berry.

Tum te da dum! Dahlianut to the rescue ^_^ I have a whack of frozen berries in my freezer that I got fresh from the market cuz I luv them too. Dmail coming your way Tuinkabouter.

Cool beans!

Ann - according to the article I posted above (or maybe I didn't lol) they said they were native all over most of North Am. but the western kind was the best eating one. I think there were 12 different kinds.

Thank you, Dahlianut! You make my day!

You've got d-mail......

Ann I think they just go by the name of Serviceberry in the east but have a feeling they are maybe not commercially available there.

Here too. My DBIL calls them serviceberries and I bought my bush (when I lived in NW Iowa) in IA and it was labeled Saskatoon berry. I like the SK name better. Serviceberry sounds very unexciting and boring. lol