Nanking Cherries

The nanking cherry is both ornamental and edible.  It is beautiful and provides small bright red cherries that are great in jams, syrups, and jellies.

The nanking cherry also know as the Manchu cherry, can be a twiggy shrub or pruned as a small tree.  It is useful in windbreaks and edible landscapes.

Very easy to grow, the nanking cherry is also hardy.  It is both cold tolerant Zone 2 and heat tolerant.  It tolerates winds and dryness.  If grown as a shrub it will be from 6-10 feet wide and tall.  It can be pruned into a small tree but does sucker a lot.

The white powder is kaolin clay or Surround that acts as a insect deterrent and is used in organic orchards

The fruit ripens in early summer here in zone 5.  It is densely packed on the branches and a beautiful bright red. It lacks a stem like pie or sweet cherries and grows along the lateral branches.  The fruit is marble sized.  

To obtain the juice heat the cherries until soft and strain the juice through cheesecloth. Allow the juice to rest overnight in the fridge. This will separate the clear juice from heavier sediment that will settle at the bottom. Pour just the clear juice to use the in jellies and syrups.  

Juicing is easy just wash and add a small amount of water to the bottom of a pot.  Simmer, mashing the cherries with a potato masher on occasion.  Then strain through a jelly bag.

This little ruby red fruit is so easy to harvest because it is so densely packed.  Just hold a bucket under the branch.   Birds love this cherry so make sure you beat them to the harvest.  You can eat them fresh if you like a tart tangy cherry.  I prefer to use them in jellies and syrups. This jelly and syrup is one of my favorites.

Nanking cherries are prone to aphids so be sure to use a dormant oil and then monitor for aphids. If aphids become a problem spray with Neem oil and a product with spinosad before the leaves begin to curl.