One Plant a Week: Nannyberry
This is the twenty-second post in our new series, One Plant a Week, where we learn a new, edible plant every week. That means that if you follow along, you’ll know 52 new plants after only a year of doing this. As our foraging expert guest, Pascal Baudar said on the Wild Fish and Game Podcast, it will make you more of a wild plant expert than 99.99999% of the population.
We recommend you go out and find these plants if they exist in your region. You don’t necessarily have to harvest them; simply familiarize yourself with them and get to know them well. See them in their different phases of life, in different terrains and conditions. See who else likes to eat them (Bears? Squirrels?), pollinate them (Butterflies? Hummingbirds?), or use them (Nesting birds? Muskrats?). Use plant ID apps, along with foraging/ID books, online resources, and mentors to teach yourself about them more and to get comfortable enough with them that you can ID to 100% accuracy.
Then, if you feel confident enough, bring some home and try preparing some to eat. Try doing this with different specimens in different stages of life to see when it is best to harvest them. Knowing these plants through and through will transform the way you interact with the outdoors, as well as the way you see food. A warning though: this is an addictive hobby!
An additional warning: Plant ID apps are not 100% accurate, and you should not be eating ANYTHING wild unless you are 100% sure that it is safe to do so. Do not rely solely on one source for your information (including us), and do not eat anything unless you’ve properly identified it.
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This Week is All About Nannyberry!
Nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) is a lesser-known but highly useful native fruit shrub found across much of North America. Often overlooked in favor of more popular berries, this hardy viburnum rewards foragers with clusters of sweet, prune-like fruits that ripen in late summer and fall.
Long valued by Indigenous peoples and early settlers, nannyberry provided both food and medicine. The berries could be eaten fresh, dried, or cooked into preserves like nannyberry butter, while the bark and roots were used in teas for various ailments. The shrub also played an ecological role, providing late-season forage for wildlife and acting as a natural hedgerow species along field margins.
For modern foragers, nannyberry offers both an easy-to-identify fruit and a sweet ingredient for the kitchen. With its deep blue-black berries and rich flavor, it’s a plant worth knowing and harvesting when the season comes around.
Description:
Nannyberry is a large shrub or small tree, often growing 12–20 feet tall with multiple stems and an irregular crown. The leaves are opposite, oval, and finely toothed, with a pointed tip and a glossy dark green surface that turns reddish-purple in fall.
In spring, nannyberry produces showy clusters of creamy white flowers, which are fragrant and attract pollinators.
By late summer into fall, the flowers give way to drooping clusters of oval fruits. The berries start off green, ripen to red, and then mature into a dark blue-black with a powdery bloom. They contain a single large, flattened seed inside, similar in size and shape to an olive pit. The flesh around the seed is thin but sweet, with a flavor reminiscent of raisins or prunes with a tropical twist.
Lookalikes are few, but some other viburnum species (such as wild raisin, Viburnum cassinoides, or blackhaw, Viburnum prunifolium) produce similar clusters of dark fruits. Fortunately, most viburnums are edible, though their flavors vary. As always, confirm identification by checking leaf arrangement (opposite) and flower structure before harvesting.
Edibility:
The berries of nannyberry shrubs are fully edible and quite tasty when ripe. They can be eaten fresh off the shrub, where their sweet, raisin-like flavor makes for a pleasant trailside snack. Because of the large seed, they’re not a pop-in-your-mouth fruit like blueberries; instead, it’s best to suck the pulp from around the pit or process them into other foods.
Nannyberries shine when cooked down into preserves, butters, syrups, or sauces. Their natural sweetness and rich, dark flavor pair well with spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. They can also be dried into fruit leather or combined with other wild fruits such as crabapple or elderberry for a unique jam. The berries are high in antioxidants and vitamin C, making them not only tasty but also nourishing.
Ten Recommended Uses
1. Fresh eating – Enjoy ripe nannyberries straight off the bush in autumn.
2. Jams and jellies – Cook and strain for rich spreads.
3. Fruit leather – Puree and dry into chewy snacks.
4. Syrups – Boil down with sugar for pancakes or cocktails.
5. Wine or liqueurs – Ferment or infuse for unique beverages.
6. Sauces – Pair with venison, duck, or other wild game.
7. Baked goods – Add pulp to muffins, breads, or cakes.
8. Dried snacks – Dehydrate berries for trail mixes.
9. Mixed preserves – Blend with tart fruits like crabapple for balanced flavor.
10. Medicinal teas – Historically, bark and roots were used for teas.
Harvesting and Processing Tips
Collecting
Nannyberries ripen from late September through November, depending on latitude. Look for drooping clusters of dark blue-black fruits with a slight powdery bloom.
Processing
Because each fruit has a large seed, it’s easiest to cook the berries down with a little water and then strain the pulp through a food mill or sieve. This removes seeds and skins, leaving a smooth puree for jams, sauces, or leathers.
Storage
Fresh nannyberries don’t keep long, so process them soon after harvest. Pulp can be frozen for later use, while dried fruit or leather stores well in airtight containers.
