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Volume 108 No. 01
North Battleford, Sask.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Photo by Louise Lundberg
A Splendid Harvest Was it the dry weather that brought about a bounty of saskatoon berries this year? Prairie lore has it that may be the case, but regardless of the reason, saskatoon fans are thankful. Sara Williams of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society, author of the newly revised Creating the Prairie Xeriscape and the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo: A Photographic History, tells us David Thompson, an early Canadian explorer, wrote one of the first descriptions of the much loved saskatoon berry in 1784: “On the great plains there is a shrub bearing a very sweet berry of a dark blue color, much sought after. Great quantities are dried by the natives. In this state the berries are sweet as the best currants ... The wood is preferred for their arrows and bows as it is weighty, pliant and non-elastic. It ought to be cultivated in England and Canada.” Early settlers quickly adopted the berries for use in jams, jellies, preserves, pies and wine. By the turn of the last century, pioneers were transplanting saskatoons from the wild to their prairie homesteads, and not just for food production. With their early spring flowers coupled with fall colours ranging from yellow to orange with the occasional purple, saskatoons have valuable ornamental features. Almost all saskatoon cultivars grown in our backyards and orchards are superior selections from the wild, surviving winter temperatures of –50 C or lower. Plants begin to bear fruit at three to five years of age, coming into full production by seven to eight years. With proper care, they will continue fruiting until 30 to 50 years old.