2025 North Carolina Aronia U-Pick Farms and Orchards - PickYourOwn.org

Aronia U-Pick Orchards or farms in North Carolina in 2025, by area of state

Keep in mind, not all areas of a state have aronia orchards that are open to the public. If you know of any others, please tell us using the add a farm form!

These are the areas of the state that have aronia orchards to pick aronia. Click on the area closet you!

• Triangle area of North Carolina

 

Aronia Berry

Aronia Melanocarpa. The Aronia berry or black chokeberry is one of the common names for Aronia Melanocarpa. The name "chokeberry" is often confused with "chokecherry." which is the common name for a different plant, prunus virginiana

Aronias are an edible fruit crop, high in high-antioxidants, although the fruit, like currants, is too astringent to eat raw so it is usually baked, made into jams, jellies, syrup, tea, juice and wine. Aronia berries contain high levels of vitamins, antioxidants, and polyphenols that reduce the potential for cancer and heart disease.  Products made from chokeberries include jams, jellies, juice and Aronia wine. 

Aronia Berry Picking Tips, Recipes and Information

Aronia Berries are one of the easiest fruit to prepare and serve. There's no peeling, pitting, coring or cutting. They have few natural pests, (other than birds), so pesticides are generally unnecessary! This year's crop is fantastic (see related news story), thanks both to the weather and to more farms planting more aronia berry bushes due to increased consumer demand over the past few years as more studies proclaim the anti-oxidant and other health properties of aronia berries.

If you are looking for information about a similar berry, the saskatoon (also called the June berry or Serviceberry) see this page about saskatoons.

Picking tips:

Select plump, full aronia berries with a light dark-blue or purple color. A berry with any hint of red isn't fully ripened.

Ripening AFTER picking?

First, it is key to know that once picked, aronia berries will NOT become any sweeter, nor will the flavor improve. The only change that occurs is the color. They will APPEAR to ripen, but it is only a color change, from white to green to rose to red to pale blue to fully blue. So, white and green colored aronia berries will not "ripen" after they are picked; while aronia berries that have already turned purple, red or blue-ish usually DO change color after they are picked (if they are kept at room temperature to "ripen").

As the aronia berries ripen ON THE BUSH, the flavor goes from tastless to bitter to tasteless tart to tart aronia berry flavor.

So, the key is, PICK ONLY RIPE BERRIES!

How to pick aronia berries

Since aronia berries hang on the bushes in bunches a but like grapes do, the easiest and fastest way to pick them is hold your bucket under them in one hand and with your other hand, cup a ripe bunch and gently rub them with your fingers. The ripe berries will drop into your bucket, while the unripe ones will remain attached to the bush.

When the bushes are at peak, I can easily pick 2 gallons per hour (if I'm not being distracted by the kids and the sun isn't too hot!). A newbie might do 1 gallon per hour.and at the beginning or end of the season it takes more time as the berries are not as plentiful nor concentrated in clusters.

Tips for storing aronia berries after harvesting:

• Once picked, don't place the berries, still warm from the sun, in a closed bag or container. Leave the container open so moisture doesn't form in the container.
• Don't wash berries until just before using, to prevent berries from becoming mushy.
• Chill berries soon after picking to increase shelf life. Store your fresh aronia berries in the refrigerator as soon as you get them home, without washing them, in a covered bowl or storage container. If refrigerated, fresh-picked aronia berries will keep 10 to 14 days.
• Freeze berries in freezer containers without washing to keep the skins from toughening. Place berries one layer deep. Freeze, then pour the frozen berries into freezer containers. Because unwashed aronia berries freeze individually, they can be easily poured from containers in desired amounts. Remember both frozen and fresh berries should be rinsed and drained just before serving. Just before using, wash the berries in cold water.

Aronia Berry Measurements and Conversions

Keep in mind that aronia berries vary considerably in density and moisture content, so these ranges are approximates.

• 1 gallon of aronia berries weighs about 7.5 lbs or (4 liters of aronia berries is about 3.5 kg)

• 1 pint of fresh aronia berries weights about 3/4 of a pound. (1 liter of aronia berries is about 700 grams)

• 1 pound of fresh aronia berries is usually between about 2 and 3 cups of berries.

• It takes about 4 cups (about of aronia berries to make a aronia berry pie (see this fantastic and easy aronia berry pie recipe)

• A normal batch of aronia berry preserves, jam or jelly requires 5 pints of berries.

• Aronia Berries do come in a variety of sizes from small (190-250 berries per cup) to extra large (<90 berries per cup).

Aronia Berry Recipes, Canning and Freezing Aronia Berries

When

Aronia's bloom in mid-May to mid-June

The berries are harvested from late August to mid-September, but as noted above, they may survive on the bushes into winter.

Cooking and preserving

Aronia berries can be made into jams and jellies much like aronia berries or cranberries.  They are very tart, so you may find you add more sugar.

You can find our fully illustrated, step by step directions here for making Aronia jelly and Aronia Jam

Basic recipes are shown below for Aronia berry jam and jelly

Aronia jam

Yield about 6 to 8 half-pint jars

Ingredients

• 6 cups aronia berries.
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 (1 3/4 ounce) package dry pectin (no-sugar needed type is most reliable)
• 6 cups sugar

Steps

1. Wash the berries and then put them in a pot with enough water to cover them
2. simmer 15 minutes until they become soft and mushy
3. Add pectin and mix thoroughly
4. Bring to a full hard boil; then add the sugar and stir continuously.
5. Return to a full rolling boil and boil then for 1 minute
6. Skim off any foam and ladle into canning jars.
7. Wipe the rims and put on lids and rings
8. Process in boiling water bath for five minutes
9. Let cool away from drafts, undisturbed until room temperature (4 - 6 hours)
10. Check for proper sealing and store in a cool, dry, dark place

 

Aronia jelly

Yield about 6 to 8 half-pint jars

Ingredients

• About 4 lbs of aronia berries to produce 3  and 1/2 cups chokecherry juice made from the berries in steps 1-3 below
  if you don't have enough berries to make 3.5 cups of juice, you can supplement it with canned commercial apple juice, aronia berry juice, cranberry juice, etc.
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 (1 3/4 ounce) package dry pectin  (no-sugar needed type is most reliable)
• 6 cups sugar

Steps

1. Wash the berries and then put them in a pot with enough water to cover them
2. simmer 15 minutes until they become soft and mushy
3. Strain the juice. in a strainer or screen
4. return to a clean pot
5. Add pectin and mix thoroughly
6. Bring to a full hard boil; then add the sugar and stir continuously.
7. Return to a full rolling boil and boil then for 1 minute
8. Skim off any foam and ladle into canning jars.
9. Wipe the rims and put on lids and rings
10. Process in boiling water bath for five minutes
11. Let cool away from drafts, undisturbed until room temperature (4 - 6 hours)
12. Check for proper sealing and store in a cool, dry, dark place

In most recipes, you can substitute aronia for any other tart berry, such as blueberries or currants.

Recipes

• Aronia Berry buckle coffee cake: illustrated directions for this great crumb-topping aronia berry coffee cake
• Other easy directions to make aronia berry desserts: cobblers, etc.

Canning, freezing and other aronia berry recipes:

• How to Freeze Aronia Berries
• How to Can Aronia Berries
• How to Make Homemade Aronia Berry Jam
• How to make aronia berry jelly
• How to make and can aronia berry syrup (it works for strawberries, raspberries and blackberries, too)
• aronia berry pie filling to use later,
• aronia berry butter

Baking tips

If you have trouble with aronia berries settling to the bottom of muffins and aronia berry breads, try one or more of these tips:

• Coat them with flour before adding to the batter. Just gently shake the aronia berries in a bag (plastic or paper) with 1/2 cup of flour, then dump them mix in a sieve to remove excess flour.
• It may just be that your batter is too thin. try making the batter a little thicker!
• Fill the muffin cups or baking pan up to 1/4 full with batter (which hasn't had aronia berries added to it yet); then stir the aronia berries into the remaining batter, and continue to fill the muffin cups or bread pan. The aronia berries will start off higher in the mix!

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