Crowberry

The crowberry (Empetrum nigrum) is an evergreen, low-growing shrub about 10–30 cm tall. The evergreen leaves are needle-like and the red flowers bloom in May-June. The juicy drupe is shiny and black. The harvest season is long, lasting from early August all the way to the first snow.

Crowberry thrives in semi-dry and mossy heathlands and in the peaty soil of string fens. There are two species of crowberry growing in Finland: mountain crowberry, which is more common in the north, and the common crowberry in the south. The mountain crowberry produces the greater yield. The crowberry produces the largest harvest in Northern Finland, Ostrobothnia and North Karelia. The berry has potential for more extensive use as its yield in a good year almost rivals that of the bilberry; 120–160 million kg.

Despite their name, crowberries are not a major part of the typical crow’s diet, but squirrels, fowl and bears tend to enjoy them. The name was apparently meant to demean the berry compared to “better” berries such as bilberry; in Finland, crowberries have also been called ‘pig’s berries’.

Use and preservation

The mild-tasting crowberry is great for baked goods, berry soups, porridge and milkshakes with its blue-purple colour. Crowberry is also used for berry-based wines and berry powder. Clean the berries before use.

When preserving crowberry, combine it with other, more acidic berries. It makes great juice when paired with berries such as blackcurrant and redcurrant, lingonberry and bilberry. In jam, crowberry goes great with rhubarb.

Health benefits

Crowberry is considered a health-boosting berry. Crowberry is a great source of nutritional fibre, containing more than 5 mg of fibre per 100 g. The berries also contain 11 mg of vitamin C per 100 g, in other words twice as much as bilberry, lingonberry and cranberry. The seeds may cause irritation in those with a sensitive stomach.