Sea buckthorn is called the sunny beauty of gardens. Each nation ascribes its own epithets to it: sea thorn, Siberian pineapple, pheasant berry, tablet berry, sand berry, etc. One spoonful of sunny berries contains a daily intake of vitamins.
This plant got its name because of the abundant fruiting: the branches are literally strewn with berries. Sea buckthorn of elite varieties annually gives a good harvest, and high productivity has a downside - berries that grow in large numbers are difficult to collect. In addition, the fruits fit so tightly to the trunk of the shrub that picking them by hand turns into a tedious process. And the thorns on the branches and the short stalk prevent harvesting. The thorns sting painfully, and the soft berries crumple easily in the hands, releasing juice that stings the skin.
Understanding the full value of these berries, it is important to know the rules and time of harvesting the plant.
Collection and properties of sea buckthorn
Medicinal raw materials are the leaves, fruits and seeds of this plant. Many people ask when it is possible to collect sea buckthorn. It is believed that fruit harvesting should beginwith the onset of frost, it is then that its fruits ripen completely. However, in different regions, berries ripen at different times. Mostly fruiting is observed from August to October. You need to focus on the degree of ripeness of the fruit. There are several factors to be aware of when harvesting this medicinal plant.
Sea buckthorn berries are very tasty, with a sweet and sour taste reminiscent of pineapple. In addition, they have a unique composition. The Chinese carefully preserve the ancient knowledge and practice of alternative medicine. They made sea buckthorn juice the official drink of the Beijing Olympics.
History of the plant
In ancient Greece, sea buckthorn was considered a wild plant. Its shoots served as food for sick and wounded horses. Animals recovered very quickly, became smooth, strong and shiny. Therefore, the ancient Greeks called sea buckthorn "brilliant horse." This name has survived to this day.
Many gardeners, growing this plant, are faced with the problem of harvesting. The experience gained over the years has given them different options for picking berries.
How best to collect sea buckthorn
In small areas, sea buckthorn is harvested by hand or with tongs. Such a device ensures that the berries remain intact and the bush is not damaged. But this is a slow harvest, and not everyone has time for a long harvest, so let's look at how to quickly harvest sea buckthorn.
Speed spin
If you plan to harvest not from whole berries, then you can simplify the collectionsea buckthorn, limiting itself to obtaining "nectar". This process is as follows: moving from the base to the end of the branch, the berries are pressed directly on it so that the juice flows into a specially substituted container. The result of the collection is 3-4 liters of sea buckthorn "fresh" in one hour. It is important to remember that the sap of the plant can damage the skin, so clean cooking or cotton gloves should be worn.
Simplified method
There is another way to quickly collect sea buckthorn. After the first frost, the berries fall off easily. It is necessary to spread a tarpaulin, a blanket or a film on the ground under a bush in advance and shake or hit something on the branches of the plant - all the berries will be on the litter. But this method is not effective, because the berries are overripe, damaged by birds and spoiled by rain. To prevent this from happening, remember when to pick sea buckthorn.
Sunny Berry Harvesting
For growing sea buckthorn in your area, it is better to give preference to varieties with a dry margin and large berries. It is necessary to harvest during the ripening period, when the fruits have acquired a red-orange color and have not had time to lose their elasticity. Overripe berries are very soft and crushed when picked. Before collecting sea buckthorn, fixtures must be built independently or purchased. A good tool for quickly picking berries is a comb, U-shaped barrette, or eyelet. They also use a homemade loop, which is made from thinsteel wire. The top is made in the form of a loop, and the ends are bent inward, after which they are attached to a wooden handle. The place of attachment is wrapped first with wire, and then with electrical tape. The top of the loop must be pressed with your fingers so that it takes on the shape of a burning candle in shape. Such a device will become a real assistant in deciding how to quickly collect sea buckthorn. In addition, it can be used to easily cut berries in hard-to-reach places.
Blind selection
This method of harvesting is acceptable on those shrubs that bear fruit for more than a year. A quarter of the fruit-bearing branches are cut with secateurs, leaving a stump about 5 centimeters long. Shoots will appear at its base, which will begin to bear fruit profusely after 2-3 years. From the rest of the crown, the berries are harvested by hand. The following year, fruit-bearing branches are cut off from the rest of the shrub. This way of harvesting also acts as a rejuvenating pruning.
General Harvesting Rules
Most beginner gardeners are interested in the question of how best to collect sea buckthorn with subsequent transportation. Ripe "cobs" should be cut off entirely. You will get a short branch, densely covered with berries. They are stacked on top of each other, then sorted into boxes. Sea buckthorn with branches is better stored and transported than loose fruits.
Sea buckthorn fruits can still be harvested with a blade and a small knife. There is another way to collectsea buckthorn. Devices make this possible. One of them is a tool in the form of a plastic bag, which is attached to a tin tube. She, in turn, is brought under the base of the legs of the berries, after which they roll right into the bag.
Sea buckthorn is a dicotyledonous plant. For high productivity, specimens of two sexes are needed: female and male. The female plants bear fruit, the male shrub acts as a pollinator. An experienced gardener can experiment by grafting female shoots on top of a male plant. The fruits of such a hybrid will grow large and sweet.
The above methods will tell you how to quickly collect sea buckthorn. It remains only to cook it, providing yourself with incredibly tasty and he althy medicinal raw materials. The knowledge gained will help make the process of collecting a solar berry pleasant and loved.
