But before we reached Kootenay
Lake we stopped to visit Duck
Lake Berry Orchard located down on the flats.
Picking red currants at Duck Lake Berry Orchard
Duck Lake Berry Orchard specialized in currants, saskatoons and jostaberrys.
Saskatoons were sold as fresh fruit but most of the currants and jostaberrys
were made into jams, jellies and syrups in their own kitchen.
These small red berries are "red currants".
Jostaberries at Duck Lake Berry Orchard
And these grape size berries are jostaberries.
Jostaberry is a new berry that is a cross between a gooseberry and
a black currant. The cross is a totally new berry that combines the
best qualities of both the gooseberry and currant.
The Jostaberry has a flavor resembling a gooseberry with just a hint
of the black currant.
One good thing about the plant is the absence of gooseberry thorns.
Saskatoon berries at Duck Lake Berry Orchard
These are saskatoon berries.
The saskatoon is also known as a saskatoonberry or
Juneberry, is a type of serviceberry native to many Canadian provinces
as well as
the northwestern and northcentral United States. The plants we saw
were 3 to 5 feet in height.
The small purple berries, ripen in June and July.
The berries are the size of blueberries and are almost as sweet.
Fresh berries picked this morning at Duck Lake Berry Orchard
The berries are consumed fresh as well as made into several
types of foodstuffs, including pies, jams, wines, cider, beers and
sugar-infused berries similar to dried cranberry used for cereals,
trail
mix and snack foods.
Joyce took this picture of saskatoon berries being readied for the
freezer where they will remain until made into jams and syrups. These
berries were picked by workers this morning. They only pick berries
in the morning, stopping picking operations when the berries get warm.
Canadian lumber mill
This lumber mill was down the street from the berry orchard.
Old country store
We stopped by this old country store in one of the small communities
north of Creston.
