There are only a few minutes before July begins, but there's still a good week left to pick juneberries.

I was introduced to Amelanchier canadensis (or perhaps another member of the Amelanchier genus) during an urban forage walk led by Nance Klehm in May.

The fruits of this shrub- to tree-sized plant are called juneberries or serviceberries. Nance pointed out a specimen and advised us to look for it again in late June. The berries, she said, taste like a combination of wild rosehips and blueberries.

That's all I had to hear.

I've had an eye out for these berries since we moved into the city, but it wasn't until last week that I caught sight of them in a nearby schoolyard. Yes, I picked a few. They were delicious. Constrained by the awkward location -- these trees were on the other side of a fence that face a busy street -- I searched out other sources in some of the nearby parks. No luck.

Yesterday, however, I happened to turn into a park off of Western Avenue while I made my way home from Logan Square. And wouldn't you know, there were four or five juneberry trees right in a row. A couple overflowed with berries, most of them still not quite ripe.


I had an empty pint container in my bag, so I filled that and thanked the tree for its abundance. I went back again this evening and collected another couple pounds of fruit. Nance told us that when we forage for fruit, we have to leave most of what's there for the animals; don't pick more than a third of what's on the stem. I don't think I could've taken more than a quarter of what was available on those trees -- at least not in the time that I allowed myself to do the picking.


So now, I have to learn how to make jam.