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PrintThe Marionberry Shows its Pedigree
Oregon's native son, the marionberry shows its pedigree with a burst of versatility
I like that way they pick and the flavor of them. They are high-quality berries as far as blackberries go. - Leonard Heidt, marionberry grower
photo Diane Stevenson
There are faster and more modern alternatives, but Leonard Heidt, 60, still prefers to plant his marionberry vines by hand.
“I’m up and down on my knees for 1,500 of those,” he says. “What else would I do?" This is how I started. I decided I didn’t want to be a 'pickup [truck] farmer' – a farmer who drives around. I like working in the ground too much.”
Introduced by George F. Waldo, who worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Corvallis, the marionberry has been called the “cabernet of blackberries” for its complex, rich earthy flavor. This particular berry also has an Oregon heritage. Bred at Oregon State University, the marionberry is named after Marion County, where it was tested extensively in the 1940s and '50s before being introduced commercially in 1956.
Sixteen years after the marionberry was introduced, Heidt, then 23, bought 35 acres in Mt. Angel and began growing loganberries, strawberries and other varieties. Those berries weren’t profitable, and they were prone to diseases and harvesting problems. The standout was the marionberry.
“I like the way they pick and the flavor of them,” Heidt says. “They are high quality berries as far as blackberries go.”
On this day in May, Heidt pauses in the field, surrounded by the hand-planted bushes. “Everybody looks for the ideal dream life, and this is mine,” says Heidt. “Some people like to fish and golf. I don’t."
After growing marionberries for 36 years, Heidt knows the optimal time and temperature for berry picking: touch a berry and it drops from the plant. In your mouth, the ripe marionberry bursts with a sublime balance of tartness and sweetness. Come July, these berries ripen to a deep purple. Heidt works nearly `round-the-clock six days a week.
It’s the apex of his year – and a continuum of his life’s work.
It brings with it, however, some anxiety, says Heidt’s wife, Joann, 57.
“We call it ‘PMS’—pre-marion season, because it gets kind of tense, waiting those last few weeks before you pick,” she says. “You’ve got to figure out when to go—not too soon, because you could do damage to the berries that come later, and you can’t wait too long. If it starts raining, you’ve got mold, so you’re always watching the weather.
During picking season, nearly every day in July for the past three-and-a-half decades, Heidt starts around 2 a.m., when the temperature dips just below 50 degrees and a fine dew covers the fruit. The berries have cooled from the prior day’s heat, and they are at their plumpest and ready for harvesting. For the next six hours, he uses a specially designed berry-picking machine, racing against the rising mercury. Once the temperature reaches 70 degrees, the fruit won’t drop off easily and are prone to getting damaged and mushy.
Heidt, like several area growers, sells his berries to a Salem processing facility called Willamette Valley Fruit Company. This processor freezes the fruit within 24 hours of being picked, and then sells it to big industrial food companies such as Marie Callenders and Dole across the country and to markets from Seattle to San Francisco. The berries are often found in the frozen food sections of stores like Zupan’s Markets, Whole Foods Market, and in Harry & David pies, says Dave Dunn, general manager of the Willamette Valley Fruit Company. 
As the cuisine of the Pacific Northwest has gained attention across America, so has the marionberry. Paley's Place, a restaurant in Portland, has received national acclaim for its cuisine featuring Pacific Northwest ingredients. Owner and chef, Vitaly Paley, says that when marionberries are in season, he uses them in desserts such as tres leches with marionberries and maple-glazed almonds (go to www.1859magazine.com/dining for Paley's recipe for tres leches with marionberries), and again in sauces for local venison, elk, squab, quail, duck and rabbit.
“The marionberry adds a wonderful note when cooking,” says Paley. “It has the same sweetness of a blueberry but has more of a backbone. It has the acidity to counteract the sweetness.”
Combined in a liqueur, the marionberry can also sweeten a dry champagne. Paley adds a few tablespoons of a marionberry liqueur to champagne in creating a marionberry kir royale, or to sparkling wine to make a marionberry kir.
“Add a twist of lemon and it’s a wonderfully refreshing summer cocktail.”
