I have loads of Nanking cherries this year. What is the best way to use them? Can they be canned or frozen?

-- Patti (trigger@mcn.net), July 24, 2000

Answers

Patti:

See if your local library has or can borrow a copy of "Putting Food By" by Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan and Janet Greene. There are any number of ways to put up cherries, including as cherry wine.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 24, 2000.

Better yet, buy the above book! I have two editions of it and they are an invaluable tool I have referred to again and again over the years! The last time I was in WalMart, they had a copy for around $10

-- b.williams (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), July 25, 2000.

I have that book, it doesn't say anything in particular about nanking cherries. Would they be treated as a sour cherry? I wonder if they could be processed the same as chokecherries?

-- Patti (trigger@mcn.net), July 25, 2000.

Patti, You are correct in assuming you can use Nanking Cherries in the same way as any sour cherry .They make wonderful cherry jelly also. Carla

-- carla sloan (hillsidefarm@texoma.net), July 25, 2000.

Patti, We had nankings in our windbreak for several years until fungus killed them. I loved using them for wine, though jelly is also a good use. Their main problem is their large pit for the size of the fruit. That's why I always chose items that didn't require pitting.

For quick easy harvesting try spreading a clean sheet under the bush, then running your hand along the branch, pulling at the fruit. A lot of leaves, stems and bark will fall too. Gather it all and pour gently into a clean bucket. When you have a good load, but before the berries start crushing under their own weight, haul it to your kitchen or other place with a clean sink. Now gently pour the cherries and trash into the sink and fill with water. The trash (or is it the cherries?) float so you can seperate the good from the bad easily, and they get nice and clean in the process. I have done this for a couple of years and it really speeded up the process.

I make alot of wine, but people generally like my nanking cherry wine the best. Have fun.

-- Kathy (redfernfarm@lisco.com), July 26, 2000.

we've made the nanking cherry jelly. It got to be too much trouble pitting them--compared to tree cherries of either type they just weren't worth it. The blooms are pretty in the spring, though!

-- alana (lester@erols.com), July 29, 2000.

Alana, I didn't pit mine. I covered them with water and just brought them to a boil them ran them through a sieve, like you would do chokecherries. The jam turned out really good, and it was easy to do.

-- Patti (trigger@mcn.net), July 30, 2000.