When the time for harvesting and harvesting begins for the winter, the housewives work from morning till night. After all, I want so much to cook as many healthy and delicious pickles and jams as possible for the family. One of the most useful berries has always been considered a sea-buckthorn. Many people know how much useful substances and vitamins are in this berry, how useful it is to take to prevent a variety of diseases. Yes, and growing buckthorn in almost every summer residence.
Time of sea buckthorn harvesting
Beginner farmers are aware of the beneficial properties of sea-buckthorn and grow it with love all summer, but that's how to collect the sea-buckthorn, not everyone knows. When berries fully ripen, they acquire a bright orange color. They tightly stick to the branch and harvest the sea-buckthorn is not so easy. As a rule, fully sea buckthorn ripens by the end of August.
Before you begin to collect sea buckthorn, decide on its future application. For the preparation of cooking or compotes to collect sea buckthorn should be as early as possible, in late August and early September. Just at this period of maturity, the berry is still dense in texture and will not give much juice. It is useful to use it fresh, because the content of ascorbic acid in this period is the highest. For the preparation of jams or marmalade, the time for harvesting the sea-buckthorn comes a little later. After a couple of weeks, the juice in the berries becomes much more, this is the most favorable period for making sea buckthorn oil.
How to collect sea buckthorn?
Collect sea buckthorn should be very carefully, because the stem is very short, and the branch is covered with sharp spines. It is very easy to mash the berries during harvesting, and the secret juice can leave irritations on the skin. But all these obstacles and complexities are worth the usefulness that is contained in sea-buckthorn. Consider several rules and ideas on how to pick berries of sea-buckthorn:
- When you start to collect sea-buckthorn, be sure to wear gloves and an apron. It is not known how the skin will behave when it comes in contact with the sea buckthorn juice. The juice not only can cause irritation, but also completely ruin the clothes, it will not be possible to wash it.
- Always collect the berries in the following direction: from the crown to the bottom of the branch.
- The simplest and quickest way to assemble the sea-buckthorn is to freeze it, just cut off the branches with berries and send them to the freezer. It's much easier to tear frozen berries from a branch. This is a fairly crude way, but it is great for the case if you were going to freeze the berries from the beginning.
- A more accurate, but a long method - using forceps. Minus this method - it takes a very long time. You can simply cut off branches and collect berries at home at the table. But there are several serious problems that can lie in wait later. Circumcision of the branches can seriously damage the tree. Cut all the branches at once. Even if you cut the berries from a cut tree branch, this will not speed up the process. But even with such shortcomings, this method has a big plus. It is collection by hands contributes to a greater yield. At the same time, you are always sure that all the berries are intact and the tree is not damaged. Besides,
Skilful summer residents have long come up with a great way to collect berries by hand using a variety of adaptations. The most popular is "cobra". It is a thin wire bent in the form of a loop, which is attached to a wooden handle. The tip of the loop is pressed slightly with your fingers (it will resemble a burning candle). With the help of such an adaptation, simply cut the pedicels and collect berries. - If you are going to make juice from sea-buckthorn and you do not have time to harvest, use the following method. Put dense culinary gloves on your hands and take a basin to collect the juice. Put it directly under a branch with fruits. Slowly run a clean hand on the branch in the direction from the bottom down, squeezing the berries. Within an hour you can collect from 3 to 4 liters of juice.