AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
This month, juneberries are busting out all over the northern U.S. The native fruit is also called the serviceberry. It has a sweet, nutty flavor, but most people have never heard of them. Harvest Public Media's Kate Grumke reports on a new push to get juneberries into farms and then onto plates.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
KATE GRUMKE, BYLINE: Flourish Farm and Folk School sits on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, outside of Alton, Illinois. Here, Crystal Moore-Stevens and her family are growing something you won't find on most farms - a row of juneberries.
CRYSTAL MOORE-STEVENS: When we first moved to this property, we invested in dozens and dozens and dozens of serviceberry trees. This is the first year that they're really putting on lots and lots of fruit.
GRUMKE: Tonight, the Stevens are helping a friend in a pinch. Cindy Higgerson owns an artisanal jam company in St. Louis and makes a juneberry jam. But this year, her usual foraging spots didn't work out.
CINDY HIGGERSON: The storms just really knocked them all off the trees. When I went back, there were only a few, and there were, like, a million birds in the juneberries.
GRUMKE: So the Stevens family invited Higgerson out to the farm.
(SOUNDBITE OF FRUIT LANDING IN CONTAINERS)
GRUMKE: Higgerson fills containers with the blueberry-sized maroon fruit and eats a few as she goes.
HIGGERSON: They taste like a combination of berries, I think, with the seeds in there tasting sort of like almond. It almost gives it cherry - notes of cherry in there.
GRUMKE: People forage and eat juneberries, but now there's a new push to get more growing on farms. Bill Davison works on commercializing the serviceberry and similar crops at the Savanna Institute, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable agriculture.
BILL DAVISON: It's a native shrub. It's highly nutritious. It tastes great. It can support regional food systems and diversified farming.
GRUMKE: But Davison says juneberries are rare on U.S. farms, and it can be hard for growers to make money with them. So most people are foraging the berries, even in cities like Chicago.
(SOUNDBITE OF CYCLISTS BIKING)
GRUMKE: Almost three miles of juneberries line Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail, which attracts runners and cyclists. Bonnie Tawse is a local nature educator and picks these berries.
BONNIE TAWSE: Someone will stop and say, are you sure you can eat those? And so it's a great moment, you know, a teachable moment, as we say, to just say, yes, you can eat them. They're delicious.
GRUMKE: To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the trail, Tawse wrote "Berries For Bloomingdale: The Serviceberry Cookbook." It has more than 20 recipes, from baked goods to savory dishes.
(SOUNDBITE OF WATER RUNNING)
GRUMKE: Back in St. Louis, jam maker Cindy Higgerson is preparing to follow her own recipe.
HIGGERSON: I'm going to do a little bit of jam math here.
GRUMKE: She puts the berries in a pan...
(SOUNDBITE OF MASHING BERRIES)
GRUMKE: ...Mashes them up, brings it to a simmer...
(SOUNDBITE OF METAL CLANKING)
GRUMKE: ...Then ladles the jam into 23 small jars.
(SOUNDBITE OF JARS SLIDING)
GRUMKE: Finally, the lids begin to pop...
(SOUNDBITE OF JAR LIDS POPPING)
GRUMKE: ...Meaning the jars are airtight and ready to sell.
(CROSSTALK)
GRUMKE: A few days later, she's at a farmers market.
HIGGERSON: Good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Good morning.
GRUMKE: Soon, a steady stream of curious customers are visiting her tent.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER: Got to make a jam decision.
HIGGERSON: I have juneberry jam this morning.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER: What is that? I've never even heard of a juneberry.
GRUMKE: Higgerson sells out in just two hours. She and other juneberry fans hope even more people will get to taste this early summer delicacy soon. For NPR News, I'm Kate Grumke in St. Louis.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.