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Video Mon Jun 25 2012
In Season: Juneberries
Amelanchier, also known as juneberries, serviceberries, shadbush and many more nicknames, are found throughout Chicagoland. They're found growing on side streets, in parks and in people's yards -- shrubs and small trees with white flowers that lead to clusters of red-to-purple berries on the ends of long stems. There might be one outside your office or apartment right now.
We're so thoroughly trained to avoid eating things that grow wild -- who knows if it's poisonous? -- that plenty of perfectly good fruit goes to the birds. One near West Side condo building didn't let their landscaping go to waste; instead, led by Moshe Tamssot of Monks of Invention, they harvested the juneberries in their courtyard and made a variety of sweet treats, from preserves to small pies.
