(lively music) (soft music) - Okay, well then, I am standing among some beautiful nannyberry bushes.

They are a little bit stressed, just because we've had drought now, for the past few summers, but they are still producing berries and you can see they're starting to turn their really pretty fall colors.

They kind of remind me of sumac, because you get the real vibrant yellows, oranges, and reds, and the nannyberry shrub tree produces those same really vibrant colors.

So the fun thing about the nannyberry is that it is completely, in my opinion, unique.

Texturally, it's unique, it's got a thicker inside, almost kind of like a banana.

And then I also feel that it tastes a bit like a banana or I've heard people describe it as figgy, or kind of prune-like.

To ID this, nannyberries typically, well, it's a native shrub or tree to the east and then going into the upper Midwest area.

So it is native to Minnesota.

Let's see the leaves, they grow what we would call opposite.

And so they are straight across from each other and if you can see, they kind of create like a bit of a V, a V-shape.

So they are just opposite of one another.

And then I am not sure what this little pokey bit is called, but the nannyberry bush also has that at the end of each of their branches.

And so in the spring, May to June, you're gonna see these bushes with really pretty, kind of creamy, white flowers that have five petals per flower.

And then those give way to then, these clusters of berries.

And so they start out in the summer, late June, July, August, they're kind of green, initially.

They turn into kind of a red, a deep red, or I guess maybe deep kind of candy apple red, like that.

And then eventually when they're all the way ripe, which is usually fall, depending on weather, but September, October it's a great time to harvest nannyberries.

And they will sometimes shrivel up and kind of look a little bit like a raisin.

But when they are black like this, they are ready to harvest and they are delicious.

Now also another reminder, I'm standing here, and yes, these are nannyberries, they are edible and they're very, very good for me.

But behind me there is a snowberry plant and there is also buckthorn.

And those berries are black, as well.

And so just know your plants and know your surroundings.

And when you are harvesting, in this case, the nannyberry, just make sure that every berry that you pick is coming from a plant that you know is the nannyberry bush or tree.

So know your surroundings.

When prepping these yummy, delicious berries, because textually they are thicker, kind of a thicker inside I guess, I like to put them in just a slow cooker with a little bit of water and then kind of let them come up to a boil or a simmer for probably a good hour.

Then after that I'm gonna old school mash 'em up, with like the pedestal and then kind of a conical strainer kind of thing.

I don't know what they're called, but they work great, and it allows me to separate the skin and seed from the innards of the berry.

And then you can transform that into like, a berry butter.

You can make like a mousse, you can make, I make nannyberry maple syrup, that's fantastic.

The filling, or what you're creating, almost like a paste, a nannyberry paste, it's good on all sorts of baked items.

So just kind of a treat and something fun to harvest in the fall.

And in the winter, something for the deer and wildlife to still munch on and enjoy.

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