Aronia berries contain high levels of vitamins, antioxidants, and polyphenols that reduce the potential for cancer and heart disease.  Products made from chokeberries include jams, jellies, juice and Aronia wine. 

Aronia Berry (Chokeberry) Production in Iowa

A two day event about sustainable organic commercial production and home garden culture of black chokeberry (Aronia melancarpa) was held in August 2008. For more information about future events, commercial production and marketing of aronia berries, visit Everhart Horticulture Consulting.  Dr. Eldon Everhart, formerly with Iowa State University, is co-owner of Everhart Horticulture Consulting. "

Dewberries:

These are similar to blackberries, only they're smaller. They're most popular on the west coast, and particularly Oregon.   you will find it spreading along open ground. When the berries are ripe they're hard to pick  without squashing them. The berry looks like a blackberry, but usually have far fewer drupelets (the individual lumps on the berry). It is also somewhat powdery in appearance.

The most common elderberry in the United States is the American elderberry, or sweet elder (Sambucus canadensis). Reaching a mature height of 8 to 12 feet, it is a vigorous grower. Thick clusters of numerous creamy white flowers are borne on five-stemmed stalks. The elderberry produces  1/4-inch purple-blackberries. The juicy fruit are a rich source of iron and vitamin C. Berries are used for making jelly, jam, pie, juice, and wine. Seeds are quite large and can become a nuisance if they get stuck in your teeth. I'm growing some this year, so I'll update this in September after harvesting!
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Loganberries    The loganberry is one of my favorites.  It tastes like a mix of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries all combined.  It makes great tasting jam! They dark red, purplish-black when ripe. The photo makes them look more red than they ones I've seen or grown. There's an interesting article on WikiPedia about Loganberries.  The debate goes on as to which is the best: Loganberries, Tayberries or Boysenberries; all of which are closely related. Tayberries produce much more but have thorns.  New varieties of Loganberries are thornless but yield much less.  And then there are people who rave about Marionberries and olallieberries, which are also close relatives.

Loquats (Eriobotrya japonica, aka Japanese plum) are fruit trees indigenous to southeastern China, but is now grown in Florida, California and Israel. It is an evergreen large shrub or small tree that can grow to 5-10 m tall, but is often smaller, about 3-4 m.  Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the fall or early winter, and the fruits are ripe in late winter or early spring.

The fruit is very slightly fuzzy, and a light orange color, or orange-yellow. and have a large pit in the middle (or even several pits in the very center; up to 7, but usually 1 or 2)The fruit is a creamy white inside and is sweet (with some subacid or acid) if left to ripen on the tree before picking.  The fruit should be peeled prior to eating; the skin, though thin, can be pulled off manually if the fruit is ripe. Also, the seeds MUST be removed before use, as they are toxic! It does make a wonderful jelly, and will grow in the deep South of the US.  The tree won't bear fruit until it is about 10 yrs old (and the winter conditions have to be right in order to bear fruit).

The loquat is comparable to the apple in many aspects, with a high sugar, acid and pectin content. It is eaten as a fresh fruit and mixes well with other fruits in fresh fruit salads or fruit cups. Firm, slightly immature fruits are best for making pies or tarts. The fruits are also commonly used to make jam, jelly and chutney, and are delicious poached in light syrup. A type of loquat syrup is used in Chinese medicine for soothing the throat, like a cough drop. Loquats can also be used to make wine. Loquats are easy to grow and are often also grown as an ornamental tree.

Mulberries also come in a white variety. Their flavor is different from the blue-blackberries but good!

There are three types of mulberries commonly found: the native north American ones (black and a red variety). And the "Chinese white". The black and red (they are the color dark red, like a red delicious apple color) were native, and earlier settlers imported the white ones from China, in the hopes of getting silk worms to flourish. While no silkworms are around any longer, the berry trees are all over the place. Most people don't know they are edible. Of the three varieties, the black ones taste almost watery with a delicate sweet flavor, overall, pretty bland. The red ones are not much different, overall a great value for "free food" as they are everywhere. Beware of the little critters that are on some of them, though. The white...oh the white!! They are truly delicious, it's almost like a different fruit altogether. When ripe, they can be as long as 2", but more typically 1 1/2" long, with a slight lavender blush on the outermost part of each individual nodule that makes up the cluster of the berry. If you see some, start picking and eat them fast...they don't last long. The tiny stem at the top is hard to remove without a knife and usually just eaten. Some people add them to pancakes and muffins, simply following recipes for blueberries, however, they are best fresh just rinsed and chilled.

Saskatoons - Genus Amelanchier.

It is also called the Western or Pacific Serviceberry, Saskatoon Berry and Alder Leaved Serviceberry. Juneberries is the name for the eastern variety of the same berry. They are very similar to blueberries, but a flavor more like apples. It is a Deciduous shrub/tree, to 40 ft (12 m), spreading to erect. They like well-drained moist soils. They are cold and drought tolerant. Flowers small, white, fragrant appear in early to late May or early June, and the purple fruit ripens in early to late July.    Fruit is 1-1.5 cm, rounded, purple-black, edible, sweet. Hardy to USDA Zone 4. Native range from southern Alaska to California, east to the Dakotas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Arizona, mostly along river banks and moist thickets and forests.  Apparently, the fruit tastes a bit like a blueberry. The berries have a pleasing and unique flavor, and are also high in iron and copper. They are good eaten fresh or in desserts. Native peoples used them in soups, stews and pemmican. They were also used in medicines for stomach and liver problems, and the juice was used as a dye. They can be propagated from seed, cutting, or suckers. 

If you are looking for recipes, freezing, canning, jam directions and information about saskatoons see this page.

 The eastern serviceberry is also called Shadbush, shadwood, shadblow, serviceberry, sarvisberry, sarvis, wild pear, juneberry, saskatoon, sugarplum, wild-plum, and chuckley pear and is even native to the Deep South.

Home Canning Kits

This is the same type of  standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce. This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, Jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer, and the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book. It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. you will never need anything else except jars & lids! To see more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!For more information and current pricing: