Chokecherry Picking

In the past few years chokecherry picking involved, packing a lunch, gathering buckets, water bottles, bug spray, sunscreen and long pants to keep ticks off. Then we would drive an hour up the canyons nearby and hope we could find some Chokecherries still left on the bushes. This year however, we only have to walk out the front door. We didn't even know what kind of tree the builders had planted when we moved in but luckily they left the tag on it with the species name. I looked it up on the computer because it was in Latin and to our surprise, it was a Chokecherry tree.

Our tree is just loaded. I've already picked 3 gallons worth and there is still more to pick. We also have a couple of smaller Chokecherry trees in the back yard that are a couple weeks behind in the ripening process as the tree you see in the picture. I think we'll get at least five gallons or more before we're done picking. I'm going to freeze them all for now and then when the weather is cooler, I hope to make some Jelly and probably more syrup.