The Backyard Berries

The crabapple trees in my yard are awake after being dormant all winter; now covered with bursting buds and fresh young green leaves, where only recently their bare branches were adorned by white powdery snow. I bought this pair of saplings in a sale, some ten years ago, after the associate at the store narrated how the berries on these kind of trees attract birds, among many more of its virtues. The trees haven’t disappointed, starting to flower in spring with pink buds, blossoming into fragrant white flowers. The flowers are a magnet for bees. The leaves fill up into a lush, darker green into summer, as the flowers peep through, slowly turning into clusters of pink mini apples. Towards the end of summer the berries turn red and become glossier and shinier through early fall. True to the associate’s story, it attracted all sorts of local birds. The first few years of having the fruit, I assumed the berries were ornamental, and at best food for the birds. With every passing year, the fruit would grow in number and size, and by late fall, would drop under the trees, rot and waste away, leaving a big mess. One summer, a visitor stopped by and plucked a bag full of berries for her chutney recipe, and it dawned on me that they were indeed fit for human consumption. 

Backyard fruits and berries weren’t new to me; I had been fortunate to have experienced some rare and interesting tropical fruits where I grew up. We had plenty of the usual mango, papaya, guavas - raw mangoes and guavas fresh off the tree were best sliced with sprinkling of some salt and chilli power. But the more interesting ones were "ber", or Indian jujuba; "kabeet/kavat" or wood apple; "jamun" or java plum; and even an Indian version of date. The variety of ber in our backyard was so sweet and tangy, so divine, something one couldn’t find in any fruit market. The tart, textured wood apple pulp ended up being mixed with some jaggery and made into chutney. All through the summers as we slept under the canopy of the jamun tree in our courtyard, the ripe, juicy, soft, deep purple jamuns would plop over us and stain every cloth it would touch, leaving some intact, for us to savor. Though my sweetest memory of all these fruits and berries was the homemade wine my cousin concocted with the jamuns. To see the crabapple trees in my backyard jam packed with fruit inspired me to make something out of it.

I learned that crabapple has natural pectin which makes it an ideal choice in making jelly or jam. An easy online recipe, a small experiment and Voila! I had the perfectly tangy, transparent pink crabapple jelly, from my backyard to the table. The jam was deep, rich burgandy and thicker than the jelly. With the amount of fruit loaded on the trees, we had a small cottage industry going that autumn, with dozens of jars that we were able to share with friends and family. The jam/jelly made the perfect addition to a thanksgiving dinner.

The following year there was even more fruit, the loaded branches arching under the weight of thousands of berries. That year my daughter and her friends from a school club made the jelly as a fundraiser to support girls’ education in countries where learning is not easily accessible for girls. It was a great outdoor, bonding moment for the girls as they plucked, cleaned and prepared the berries into the tasty and pretty looking jelly, which raised a sizable amount. For the girls, at a very small scale, it was a learning experience of a social enterprise. Instead of the usual method of fundraising where donors contribute to a cause, here the donors bought a product out of the girls’ hard work. Overall, it was a fun, rewarding experience for everyone as they turned the berries from the backyard into fulfilling another girl’s dream of getting education. A win-win overall, as it satisfied my little dream of bringing the berries from backyard to the table as well! 

Recipe : https://growagoodlife.com/crabapple-jelly/