A valuable horticultural crop - sea buckthorn, when ripe, turns into a real pantry of vitamins. If you look at the composition of the berries, you can find vitamins A, C, E, PP, B, as well as iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, valuable amino acids, pectins and the "happiness hormone" serotonin.
The cultivation of this crop is widespread throughout Russia. For a long time, sea buckthorn has been used to make tinctures, compotes, jams, jelly. When sea buckthorn ripens, its fruits become bright orange, juicy, with a sweet and sour taste and a pleasant aroma. Depending on the variety and the region in which the crop is grown, ripening occurs in different months. But on average, it takes 90 to 100 days from flowering to the appearance of ripe berries.
In this case, fruits can only be found on "female" plants. Like all dioecious, sea buckthorn is pollinated by wind and insects. Male flowers have a huge amount of pollen, but never form ovaries. You can recognize such a tree bylarger sizes, but most often you have to wait for the fruiting period. Sea buckthorn, when ripe, has branches completely strewn with berries, hence its unusual name.
Fruits have different colors and shapes. Most often, berries are cylindrical, spherical or oblong. The mass of one berry is from 0.5 to 1 gram. In this case, the color varies from light yellow to bright red. The value of these fruits is great fresh. They are recommended for use in gastritis, various heart diseases, beriberi, impaired metabolism, ulcers. Oil based on this valuable plant is used externally for the treatment of skin diseases, rapid healing of wounds and burns.
Collecting sea buckthorn lasts all autumn. Ripe fruits begin to be harvested in August and continue in September. Varieties with a very short stem are much more difficult to harvest.
Sea buckthorn, when ripe, becomes very soft. The berry crumples in the hand, while the juice flows out, causing skin irritation. Considering that the weather turns cool at this time, you can imagine how difficult and unpleasant it is to pick these berries.
Because it is much easier to tear off unripe fruits or grow varieties with a long stem. You should know that unripe sea buckthorn has not yet accumulated biologically valuable substances in full. You can deal with the collection using certain techniques. This is why most gardeners wait until mid-September until the berries are fully ripe. Sometimes they use fishing lines, wire in the form of a slingshot,manicure scissors, hang an inverted open umbrella on a branch and cut the fruit into it.
Sea buckthorn, when ripe, has many lateral fruit-bearing shoots, they are completely strewn with berries. These shoots can be safely cut off without harming the tree, and at home you can safely pick berries. After harvesting, the fruits are usually not washed, as they crumple and lose some of the useful juice. If it is necessary to clean the skin of dust, then it is better to do this before picking the berries - water the bush with a hose or wash the cut branches in the shower, let it dry, and then start harvesting.
