The Little Prairie Book Of Berries

A National Post Best Cookbook of 2021 A celebration of some of the lesser-known berries local to the prairie region, including sea buckthorn, haskap, saskatoons, currants, sour cherries, and chokecherries. This little cookbook is all about the berries and small fruits grown in prairie gardens, gathered from U-pick farms, and foraged in the wild. Home cook and accomplished gardener Sheryl Normandeau presents 65 recipes for everything from meat, poultry, and fish dishes, vegetable and grain dishes, to desserts, baked goods, beverages, and preserves (including fruit leather). If you’ve ever gathered some of these favourite prairie berries and then wondered what to make, with Normandeau’s help you’ll soon have no trouble putting them to use in easy, fun, and flavourful recipes like: Sea Buckthorn Berry and Earl Grey Tea Cocktail Pan-Fried Salmon with Sea Buckthorn Berry Sauce Saskatoon Berry Cream Puffs Currant Meringue Cookies Haskap Beet Dark Chocolate Brownies Baked Brie with Chokecherry Drizzle Chokecherry Rosewater Jelly Beautifully illustrated, the book also includes instructions for how to make and process jams and jellies, tips for storing and drying berries, and guidelines for successful foraging. Whether you’re new to the prairie region’s flora or have a stockpile of fond roadside berry-picking memories, it’s the perfect go-to and gift.

Honorable Mention, American Horticultural Society Book Awards The fifth book in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series is all about getting good soil—from chemical composition to compost, fertilizer to fungi, and much more. Soil is a whole world under our feet, full of fun words you may have heard but never quite understood, like hard-pan, humus, loam, and tilth. In this fifth book in the Guides for the Prairie Gardener series, master gardeners Janet and Sheryl provide the basics of soil science so that you can apply it to your gardening endeavours. They answer your questions on things like How do I test the chemical composition of my garden soil? What’s the difference between organic, inorganic, and natural fertilizers? What do those numbers on packages of fertilizer mean? How and when should I amend my garden’s soil? Hot compost? Cold compost? Worm compost? Egg shells, coffee grounds, banana peels—yes or no? What exactly do mycorrhizal fungi do? In this handy Q-and-A guide, focused specifically on the prairie region, you’ll learn what particles are dominant in your soil, how to make successful compost, the value of mulch, tips on no-till practices and cover crops, and solutions to problems such as compaction, heavy clay, salinity, and soil-borne diseases. With Janet and Sheryl’s insight you’ll soon be well on your way to healthy, happy soil.

Little Prairie Girl Growing Up: Moving! is a riveting and inspiring sequel to Little Prairie Girl. This book is sure to hold the interest of young and old alike, with tales of Clara's adolescent years from the "good ole days." Follow Clara and her family as she moves from the Prairies of Manitoba to the fruit farming area of southern Ontario. The author grew up hearing her mother, Clara Durksen, tell these stories about her growing up years and God's faithfulness. This is the second book in the Little Prairie Girl Series. Also available are Little Prairie Girl (Item #3534), Little Pennsylvania Dutch Boy (Item #3657) and Little Pennsylvania Dutch Boy Growing Up (item #4108). (152pp. illus. Masthof Press, 2013.)

Here's a book that berry lovers will gobble up faster than a blueberry pie: Wild Berries of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the most comprehensive guide yet to the wild berries of the Canadian prairies. It's the perfect resource for everyone from the expert berry picker to the person who's simply curious about the berries growing in the backyard. This beautifully illustrated guide has detailed information on every berry-producing plant found in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

What is it about the small fruits of field and wood that encourage rapture? These gifts of the earth—flagrant in hedgerows, carpeting the forest floor or coloring tablelands—are so ubiquitous as to be commonplace and yet so extraordinary that we have woven them into our folklore, our fables, and our art. Strawberries were painted in the frescoes of Pompeii, brambles twined into the borders of medieval miniatures, and mulberries have been embroidered on silks and linens. Today, the huge demand for these nutrient-rich fruits is pushing berry cultivation into new territories, from South America to Scandinavia, and changing the nature of our relationship with these much-loved fruits. In this delightful, surprising, and occasionally juicy botanical exploration, Victoria Dickenson traces the humble berry’s journey across cultures and through centuries with humor and passion.

“The only just and true way for an honorable and manly man is to grow them, and let everybody about the place have all he can eat. For the berry comes from the garden to the table in tempting and presentable shape, fit to grace the table of a king,” writes Jacob Biggle in The Biggle Berry Book, which was first published in 1894. If you hate plunking down what seems like a king’s ransom every time you buy a quart of berries at the local farmer’s market, and if you’ve got a little land to spare, it might be time to grow your own. Jacob Biggle shows just how easy it is to raise your own nutrient-rich berries. While the book’s emphasis is on more common fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and grapes, there is also information from other berry growers living in all parts of America who raised less familiar varieties such as dewberries, juneberries, loganberries, mulberries, and mayberries. Biggle’s trusty manual contains advice on, among other things: How to keep your berry patch pruned, cleaned, cultivated, and in good order How to protect your plants from fungus and insect damage The best ways to pick, pack, and market your berries, if you’re willing to part with them, Enhanced with color plates, beautiful engravings, and vintage photographs, The Biggle Berry Book is a treasure for anyone who appreciates the taste and freshness of homegrown fruit.

This gardeners guide is a collection of essays on the delicious rewards of berry cultivation. Edited by Jennifer Bennett, the guide contains expert advice on cane, bush, ground and wild berries as well as planting, care, maintenance and harvest.

Here's a book that berry lovers will gobble up faster than a blueberry pie: Wild Berries of Ontario, the most comprehensive guide yet to the province's wild berries. It's the perfect resource for everyone from the expert berry picker to the person who's simply curious about the berries growing in the backyard. This beautifully illustrated guide has detailed information on every berry-producing plant found in Ontario.