Choke cherries

[Rowdy Rick]

Man, that's tough Don. Late freezes here in northern Nebraska get our fruit more often than not every spring. Drove a couple of hours to my sisters to get some chokecherries for jelly and wine this year. Kurt is correct about the hydrocyanic poisoning.......even for cattle. One interesting note however is that the hydrocyanic poison in chokecherry pits apparently "dissipates" when they are pounded and sun dried. Chokecherries were one of the favorite berries used by native americans on the plains to make pemmican. The berries were pounded pits and all and then sun dried into patties in the sun for preservation. The birds start eating ours when still green here and usually don't leave much either.