Galloping Geezer
 
"Photo Credit to Julie Ann Biggs out on the Mekong River, Cambodia Vietnam Border."
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Jack Downey Comments on Canadian Issues to Inform and Amuse.
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Picture compliments of Saskatoon Farm.com
A Rose by any other name is still a Rose, unless it is a Saskatoonberry.
From the southern Yukon clear down and past the CDN-USA border, from Manitoba west to central BC there grows a bush/tree variety of one of the most delicate of Canadian wild berries called the Saskatoon Berry. This romantic name is also used in many of the western States as well. The origin of the name comes from a compound name (where the berries grow) used by the Natives to describe a very large riverside growth in which early settlers established the settlement of Saskatoon Saskatchewan.
This saskatoon bush provides a purplish blue berry that has some similarities to the blueberries of the east but is a member of the rose family. Saskatoons are quite different in taste from the plumper swamp blueberries in reality. They have a nutritional value that provided the Natives and settlers with much needed trace elements in their diet. Buffalo, deer, elk, bear, woolly mammoths, and birds browsed through theses wild stands of berries. One particular trace element "copper" provided the essential building blocks for existence and health of these animals and birds. The bushes will and do sucker but each berry has several small seeds that can be spread by birds and animals passing them through their stomachs. With out the Saskatoon's many trace elements the number of animals and birds would have developed quite differentently on the Great Plains and in the Foothills. Since copper is stored in the body, the carnivores and paleo Indians received some of this copper trace element from their kills of the herbivores, and the natives, more via the Saskatoons.
Nutrients in saskatoon berries
Saskatoons will supply you with important nutrients as well as a tasty treat. A 100 gram serving of saskatoon will supply:
- 22.3% of recommended daily iron
- 88 mg or 11% of daily calcium requirements
- 20% of carotene
- 16 mg of Vitamin C
- 244 mg of potassium or 10% of daily needs
- 2.5% of zinc and 33.8% of manganese
- 32 mg of phosphorus or 1.1% for adults.
One of the minor trace elements is copper, which can be stored in the body, provides the ability to absorb the above critical health elements, both in animals and humans.
Copper is required for the formation of hemoglobin, red blood cells as well as bones, while it helps with the formation of elastin as well as collagen - making it necessary for wound healing.
A lack of copper may also lead to increased blood fat levels. It is also necessary for the manufacture of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline as well as for the pigmentation of hair.
Deficiency of copper, It can be stored in the body, and daily presence in the diet is therefore not necessary. If copper is deficient in the body, iron is also normally in short supply, leading to anemia as well as the likelihood for infections, osteoporosis, thinning of bones, thyroid gland dysfunction, heart disease as well as nervous system problems. (This is information only, not to be used as medical information or to be acted on, use to only help understand dietary needs of the fauna of the Great Plains)
Saskatoon berries have returned as a profit-making crop across the west. Where to buy or find U pick farms for a treat from history can be located at GOOGLE key word "SASKATOON BERRIES" will take you to a fascinating land of saskatoon products, recipes, or starting your own Saskatoon Farm is provided by government agricultural agencies and the growers themselves.
No western boy or girl walk this land with out longing for a slice of Saskatoon pie, it is part of our Western heritage.
My favorite site is 19 km south of Calgary "The Saskatoon Farm." This unique family operation is composed of a tree and saskatoon berry nursery with a restaurant and sales outlet that provides excellent buffalo and a large variety of first class saskatoon pies, crumble, breads, buffalo bunwhiches, ice cream, stews etc. at reasonable prices. Since they raise their own Buffalo and Saskatoons, you are assure of total enjoyment of excellent, freshly prepared mouth watering items.
The decor is charming and the staff is composed of local people, it is very much like coming home to Gram's place after church on Sunday. The preserves and syrups make wonderful gifts and for the Bar B Que there is an assortment of buffalo cuts including Buffalo Bratwurst.
Take a look at their Web Site http://www.saskatoonfarm.com In my opinion this is the most informative of the Saskatoon Web Site on the net, very informative and professional.
You Easterners may wonder what the taste difference is between the BLUE BERRY and the SASKATOON BERRY,........... it is really quite simple folks.
SASKATOONS taste like MORE!
© Jack C. Downey CD
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