Good afternoon dear friends!
Blueberries ripen in July. I think that many people love this forest berry. Yes, and how not to love her, because blueberries have a lot of useful vitamins and minerals, and what a tasty one too. Solid health and beauty benefits.
It is best to use fresh blueberries, so all the vitamins and minerals get into the body. But I want to extend the use of the year. In winter, blueberries can be dried, frozen, wiped with sugar, compote and preparations in their own juice, boil jam. And what delicious tarts and dumplings with blueberries turn out to be - you will lick your fingers.
So as soon as the time comes for picking berries, you need not be lazy, take buckets - and into the forest, as a last resort, on the market, for a useful berry.
In the forests of the middle belt blueberries are very common. She loves to grow in mixed or pine forests. Can grow not a solid carpet, but islands. Bilberry bushes in fruitful years are literally covered with berries.
Bilberry belongs to the cowberry family. What we see on the surface are not separate bushes, but shoots of a single large plant that branches in the soil. These bushes are stolon shoots that can grow even a few meters from each other! One plant can have twenty or more bushes of different ages from one to ten years.
In the first year, the branches only grow and accumulate food for the plant, and in the second or third year berries appear on the bushes. In the first years they are smaller, but they are larger. On older sprigs of berries more, but not smaller.
Blueberries bloom in May, at about the same time as the bird cherry. And the harvest depends largely on whether it fell during the flowering frost. If the frost is not affected, then after two months you can go to the forest for berries.
When to pick blueberries.
You can pick berries from the end of June and somewhere until mid-August, in different climatic conditions, the time of harvesting is slightly different. The exact indicator of when blueberries can be harvested is the appearance of its sale in the markets.
The best time to gather in our places is the second half of July. At the end of the season, the berries are already becoming soft, overripe. It is best to pick berries in dry weather. And it is desirable to do it with your hands, not with combines that can damage the bushes, and if you use a combine. then with rare teeth that do not tear off the foliage.
And of course, we remember that blueberries can be harvested in an ecologically clean forest, away from the roads. That is even a useful cartoon on this topic.
The composition and beneficial properties of blueberries.
Of course, the biggest benefit from fresh berries. Therefore, in season, you should try to eat as much as possible of fresh berries.
Blueberry has a pleasant sweet-sour taste. From sugars in it is dominated by fructose (3.68%). Glucose contains 2.45%.
Especially prized rich vitamin and mineral composition of blueberries. It contains:
- macronutrients and microelements - phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, iron, manganese, copper, silicon, iodine, molybdenum, and others.
- vitamins - C, B1, B2, PP, carotene,
- organic acids - lactic, succinic, malic, citric, oxalic, quinic)
- biologically active, pectin and tannins.
Blueberries can be called the periodic table in one berry. Only 100 grams of berries per day provide the daily need for vitamins.
The healing properties of blueberries.
Because of its rich composition, blueberries have long been valued in folk and official medicine, especially for gastrointestinal problems. Since childhood, I remember - just a little problems with the intestines in children, my grandmother cooked blueberry kissel.
And from blueberries, she always made a delicious liqueur. I just covered the berries with sugar and they wandered, I still do that. The result was a delicious thick and sweet tincture, which was also used for medicinal purposes.
And Grandma has a lot of blueberries dried. She always had a bag of dry berries on the stove, and we loved to feast on them.
Dried blueberries were used as a remedy for diarrhea. After all, blueberries have a lot of tannins. An interesting property of blueberries - raw, it is slightly weak intestines, and dried, on the contrary, have a fixing effect. Laxative effect strengthens fiber, and fixing - tannins. After blueberry therapy, the intestines return to normal for a long time.
Everyone knows the positive effect of blueberries on vision. There are even legends about this. But you should know that the best blueberry improves twilight vision, it does not solve all problems with the eyes. Many pharmaceutical preparations for improving vision are composed of blueberries. Yes, and for other therapeutic purposes, it applies.
In Vivasan company, one of the most popular vitamin products is Blueberry, which is useful for both young children and adults. This is a universal vitamin drink to strengthen the immune system. The production technology is such that all useful substances in a bioavailable form are maximally preserved in a drink.
In folk medicine, a decoction of dried berries is used for diarrhea, enterocolitis, anemia, anemia, kidney stones, with bedwetting for children, cystitis, gout and metabolic disorders, and for detoxification of the body.
Bilberry is an excellent preventive measure against aging, it has strong antioxidant properties, it is able to bind free radicals and remove them from the body. In adverse environmental conditions, this is especially important.
It is useful to eat blueberries and after an illness, especially after treatment with antibiotics, radiation or chemotherapy. It helps to restore the blood formula, excrete toxins and harmful substances, free radicals, radioactive substances.
With blueberries you can make many delicious desserts and pies, I will try to tell you about your favorite dishes with blueberries. In previous publications there is a delicious recipe.
In season, my homemade love to eat blueberries with sugar or honey with a little added sour cream, cottage cheese or ryazhenka. Yummy!!! Great summer dessert.
Blueberry leaves.
Blueberries are also useful for people with diabetes, and not only berries, but also the plant itself. The leaves contain "plant insulin" - neomirtillin. Collecting berries in the forest, you can gently break off or cut a few twigs and dry them in the shade. And then brew like tea.
But in no case do not tear the plant from the root, let the berry grow and bear fruit for many years.
Blueberry leaves are useful for leukemia, pain in the stomach and intestines, diarrhea, cystitis, uterine and hemorrhoidal bleeding.
External infusion can be used for washing wounds, burns, ulcers, eczema, abscesses, lichen. But before using the leaves for medicinal purposes, you should consult with your doctor.
Contraindications blueberries.
Blueberries are a rare product that has very few contraindications. But still they are. First of all. It can not be used by those who have an individual intolerance to these berries.
Do not get too carried away with berries and those with reduced blood clotting, blueberries thins a little blood.
Precautions should be taken by people with diseases of the pancreas and urolithiasis.
If you are prone to constipation, you should also limit the use of dried berries.
In this case, consult your doctor.
Here are many of the beneficial properties of a small blueberry forest. Eat on health, let her benefit you!
In July, the berry season begins: numerous berries ripen in the woods and fields, only manage to collect. We have compiled a berry calendar for you, so that you do not miss the time of collecting useful gifts of nature. Also read where to pick different berries and what are their beneficial properties.
Berry calendar
Cowberry
What is useful:Berry is useful because it contains a large amount of vitamins, bioflavonoids, organic acids.
When to collect:The season of collecting lingonberries begins in August-September. This late berry has a sour taste with a slight bitterness, which completely disappears after frost. Therefore, collect lingonberries until the end of November.
One of the great ingredients of lingonberry is benzoic acid. Thanks to her, the crop is stored fresh for a month, and sometimes more. Berries are useful for high blood pressure, reduce the temperature, inhibit the development of bacteria, remove toxins, improve the condition of respiratory and colds. They can be used in diseases of the kidneys, especially in this case lingonberry morsy, which have a diuretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
Crowberry
What is useful: The other name of the crowberry is siksa or floe. Berry strengthens the immune system, is useful at high pressure, metabolic disorders. It has antiseptic and wound healing properties, relieves inflammation and spasms. Crowns is also rich in antioxidants and vitamins. Another plus of the berries is the simplicity of storage, it is enough to fill it with water and put it in the basement, so it will stand until the next harvest.
When to collect: Berries grow in the tundra beyond the Arctic Circle, ripen in August, and they are harvested until late autumn, until frost occurs. Even in winter, the crows do not fall off the shrubs from the shrubs, but after a cold snap, they become purple-black in color.
Blueberry
What is useful: Berry is incredibly useful: removes toxins, strengthens the vascular walls, has a beneficial effect on the heart and the state of neurons in the brain. It prevents the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the vessels, reduces pressure and reduces inflammation. Blueberries are useful for hypertension, atherosclerosis, vascular diseases and diabetes, as it lowers blood sugar and promotes tissue repair.
When to collect: Forest blueberries spice late - until September.
Wild strawberry
What is useful: It holds the record among forest berries for their iron, vitamin E, folic acid and calcium. Strawberries also contain organic acids, pectins, vitamins, mineral compounds and fiber. It helps normalize digestion, increases strength, helps in the treatment of anemia, normalizes metabolism, removes toxins and excess cholesterol. In winter, strawberries are kept in dried or frozen form, and jam is also made.
When to collect: Strawberries begin to sing in June, in the northern regions of the berry can be collected in July and August.
Cranberry
What is useful: Its acidic fruits are saturated with antioxidants, rich in potassium and vitamin C. Cranberry is a natural antibiotic, has antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, and is recommended for kidney and urinary tract diseases, colds and infectious diseases. It also contains substances that prevent the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and blood clots on the vessel walls. A useful berry and varicose veins, because it improves elasticity and increases the strength of the venous walls. It remains fresh for a long time, as it is rich in benzoic acid, a natural preservative.
When to collect: Cranberries ripen in September and are harvested until the end of autumn.
Princess
What is useful: The princess is useful almost as raspberry, it is used as an antipyretic, it is useful for tonsillitis and diseases of the upper respiratory tract. The plant has edible not only berries, but also leaves that are used to make infusions that taste like fruit tea.
When to collect: The season of the princess begins in July-August, this berry has a pleasant taste - sweet, but with a sour note, as well as a wonderful aroma, like the smell of pineapple and peach.
Stone berry
What is useful: It contains a lot of vitamin C, organic acids, pectin and tannins, it is used as a remedy for beriberi, anemia, metabolic disorders, cystitis, and the common cold. Berry strengthens the walls of blood vessels, contributes to the removal of toxins from the body. In addition, it has a pronounced antipyretic effect and is recommended for colds.
When to collect: Berry ripens in July and August, the harvest season continues until the end of September.
Krasnik
What is useful: Berries and juice of redberries lower blood pressure, they are rich in vitamin P, which dilates blood vessels and strengthens their walls. In addition, the dye contains vitamin C, organic acids, essential amino acids, fiber, minerals. It is useful for colds and infections, to improve digestion. The plant also uses young leaves.
When to collect: Krasnika is a northern berry growing on Kamchatka and Sakhalin, it is harvested in August-September. It has a peculiar taste: sweet at first, then becomes sour, and at the end acquires bitterness.
Cloudberry
What is useful: Cloudberries in Russia was considered the royal berry. And for good reason - this berry has three times more vitamin C than oranges, it is superior to carrots in provitamin A content, and also contains tocopherols. Due to its composition, the berry is a powerful antioxidant, strengthens the immune system, protects cells from free radicals and promotes their rejuvenation. Also in cloudberries a lot of potassium, which improves the state of the cardiovascular system. Berry is a valuable source of vitamins and trace elements, especially useful for debilitated patients.
When to collect: Cloudberries bloom in early summer, collect it in July and August.
Blueberries
What is useful: This medicinal berry is rich in vitamins and minerals, it raises the tone, stimulates the metabolic processes, reduces inflammation. The most important property of blueberries is its antioxidant effect. It contains lutein, which has a beneficial effect on the visual apparatus, flavonoids that improve the state of the nervous tissue, anthocyanidins, and rejuvenating cells. Blueberries are recommended to be used for the prevention of age blindness, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, cardiovascular and oncological diseases.
When to collect: Blueberries are harvested from July to September.
Raspberries
What is useful: Berries are rich in organic acids, vitamin C, minerals. It is also rich in salicylic acid, which lowers the temperature and has an antimicrobial effect. It is not in vain that raspberry juice and raspberry jam are considered as one of the best anti-cold remedies. For the winter, the berry can be frozen, dried, made into jam, jam or compote.
When to collect: Raspberries are harvested in August.
Blackberry
What is useful: Tart berries are rich in vitamins and minerals, they are useful for patients with diabetes, as they reduce blood sugar levels. Blackberry is also famous for its anti-inflammatory properties, it is used for diseases of the joints, kidneys and urinary tract, the gastrointestinal tract.
When to collect: Blackberries ripen in August and September.
Article prepared by Ekaterina Kushnir
Illustrations: Julia Prososova specifically for 2LongLife
Editor: Anastasia Brovkina
Nature arranged that the berries can be collected in the forest from June until late autumn. Wild berries are much more useful and tastier than garden ones, only it is more difficult to collect them, diligence and knowledge of the forest is required. Once having brought home the generous gifts of nature, you will become a fan of the forest harvest. We offer you a few useful tips that will certainly come in handy when going to the forest.
Collection time is an important condition. Where is the berry growing?
Wild strawberry
In our forests grow many types of berries, each of which has its own time of ripening. The forest season begins with the collection of strawberries, which grows along the edges and along forest glades, roads. Depending on the weather, strawberries are harvested from early June to early July. Then the berries depart, fall and the strawberry leaf turns yellow. The biggest harvest lasts about two weeks, then it declines.
Blueberries
Since early July, blueberries ripen, it is the next in order, but you can even collect it in September. Blueberries, on the lowest two-year bushes the largest, lies in the moss, it ripens last. The greatest number of berries is collected in July, you should not start picking when the berries are not yet poured and have a bland taste. Bilberry grows in clearings, in the forest more often, along swamps, usually bilberry represents whole thickets, like plantations.
In the first days of August, it goes behind blueberries, it grows along the swamps and on the swamps themselves, shrubs the size of a low currant. It is easier to collect blueberries, it is not necessary to bend down so often, the harvest is faster, and the berries are larger compared to blueberries. Blueberries do not fall from the bush, hanging for a long time, sometimes when autumn cranberry harvest you can come across an unmarked blueberry, which turns blue and does not allow to pass by. Poured to the size of small grapes, autumn blueberries become sweet and crumble when harvested.
The next lingonberry ripens, before the end of August you should not collect it. Lingonberries must ripen on the bush, because the mixed pink and red berries rot and deteriorate. Lingonberries are harvested until October, at which time the berry becomes dark, sweet, and very rich. It is simple to collect lingonberries; it grows with tassels, like grapes, and the bucket quickly fill up. It is difficult to sort through it, it takes as much time as it does to collect.
Queen of wild berries -. In areas where it grows, announcements are made by the administration when it is possible to open the gathering season. Cranberries are considered northern bread, which feeds many. The harvest should begin no earlier than mid-September, since the immature berries deteriorate and rot. Cranberries in the swamps are the easiest to collect, because the weather is not hot, there are no mosquitoes and black flies, the bill goes not to glasses, but to buckets. Cranberries are harvested in the spring, in April, when the snow melts. It is called Veshnika, amazingly sweet and tasty berry from under the snow, a real cure for children and sick, weak in the winter people.
We buy forest berries
Never buy wild berries at the beginning of the season, you can buy a glass to pamper yourself or children. If the seller assures you that the berries are ripe, and the pink ones reach in a couple of days, then do not believe him. The difference between ripe and bulging berries and gathered early or at the beginning of the season is significant. It's like tomatoes, shot green, and ripened to condition on the bush.
For billets and winter frost, take a late berry, now you know the dates when they can be collected. This is especially true for lingonberries, which dishonest collectors begin to sell from mid-August, when the berry is completely immature. Buying cranberries in the winter, do not chase a beautiful and poured berry, quite often it is water-saturated cranberries, then frozen.
It is best to get the company in the forest, no one will leave empty-handed and get a stunning charge of health.
Summer is in full swing, and gardeners start harvesting. From early spring, they holily and cherished their green pets and waited for the plants to thank for their care.
In the middle lane, cherry berries of felt mature together in early July and remain on the shrub for a long time without falling off. Since the stem is firmly attached to the fruit and hard to come off, the berries easily crumple when harvested and can be stored for no more than a day. They have a fairly pleasant taste: from refreshing sweet and sour to a little sweet sweet. Their flesh is very tender juicy. Felt cherries are consumed fresh or used to make jams, compotes, juices, syrups, wine.
Continue to pick strawberries. Do it better in the morning after the dew dries. Whiskers with rising rosettes should be removed so that the plants spend all their energy on the formation of the crop.
The first sign of the approaching harvest of blueberries is a change in the color of the skin of the berries from green to bluish-purple. This period lasts for several days, and under favorable weather, the fruits reach full maturity in a week.
A certain difficulty is created by the uneven ripening of fruits even within the same brush (the gap, depending on the variety, lasts three to five weeks). Blueberry berries must be harvested two or three times with an interval of 10-14 days. Rip off only mature, easily separated berries, and unripe leaves on plants.
After collecting blueberries for about a week can be stored in the refrigerator. At a temperature of 0 ° C and a relative humidity of about 80% of the berries are stored from four to six weeks.
Irga ripens non-simultaneous. However, the first berries are well kept in the hand until the others are fully ripe, and the collection is possible in one step. In a cool room, irga can be stored for about a week. At the same time, the yield of juice from berries increases to 70%. Fresh fruit is a great dessert. They are well frozen, and in dried form resemble raisins.
From irgi make wonderful compotes, juices, jam, jam, jam, wine. Jam and juice are especially tasty if black currant is added to the irga (2: 1).
In a cool room, irga can be stored for about a week. At the same time, the yield of juice from berries increases to 70%. Due to a small amount of acid, the taste of an irgi is sugary-sweet, with a peculiar flavor of cinnamon.
Do not forget to collect and destroy prematurely "ripe" black currant berries, affected by the sawfly. If this is not done, then the larvae gnaw through the fruit and go into the soil for the winter. From the bushes of black currant and gooseberry regularly need to remove and destroy the spider nest moth.
Elena Vasilyeva
Sea buckthorn is a useful and tasty berry, so that the harvest will bring satisfaction, and the harvesting will delight at any time of the year, you need to know when to pick sea buckthorn. It is also worth remembering that the timing of its ripening depends on the area of growth, climatic, weather conditions and even the plant variety.
Berries of early varieties are collected in early August, late - from mid-September.
From ancient Greek sea buckthorn literally translated as "a brilliant horse." In ancient Greece, its leaves were fed sick, weak horses, because at that time they were especially valuable animals. From such food the horses became plump, strong. Their wool got shine, gloss.
Its name is quite understandable, the berries literally cling to the trunk and branches. This is a tall, multi-stem dioecious shrub, on which leaves appear after flowers pollinated only by the wind. At one place it can grow for fifty years. In order for the plant to enjoy fruits, it is necessary to plant a female and male tree at a distance of up to ten meters. On the male fruit does not happen, if you plant in the center of the girl group, then it alone will be enough for pollination of eight female individuals.
In the southern regions, sea buckthorn is grown on a large scale, breeders tend to constantly display all its new species with berries of large sizes. According to experienced gardeners for planting on the site it is better to use seed propagation, it is light and excellent planting material. The tree grows strong, resistant to the unfavorable whims of nature, gives high yields.
What is the value of sea buckthorn?
Sea buckthorn is a unique product that is a relative of the olive tree. Due to the presence in the fruits of the interaction of several minerals, vitamins, acids, it has universal properties:
- berries, raw juice promote healing of wounds, treatment of ulcers
- oil is used as a disinfectant, antimicrobial agent for the treatment of various skin lesions
- the fruits are natural antibiotics that prevent fungal diseases, the appearance of harmful microbes
- beta carotene in combination with vitamin C boosts immunity
- vitamin E is used as an effective antioxidant.
- essential fatty acids (and this is the same vitamin F), hinder the development of vascular atherosclerosis, normalize the work of the cardiovascular system
- provitamin A, vitamins C, E, F under irradiation are able to support cells, body tissues, protecting it from the appearance of new tumors, mutations. Strengthening the effect of each other, they work together
Useful, medicinal substances found in fruits and sea buckthorn oil, when irradiated, participate in the process of regeneration of the walls, mucous membranes of the intestine, stomach. They are also successfully used in gynecology, cosmetology as an effective protective and regenerating agent.
But against the background of positive properties, sea buckthorn has also contraindications. Fruits can harm those who suffer from inflammatory processes in the liver, gall bladder, who are prone to allergies, so many allergens are removed from its composition in the production of oil.
The period of collecting useful berries
How to understand that the sea buckthorn is ripe and what are the mature fruits? Its berries are small in size, rich orange color, which sit tightly on a branch. If you gently squeeze the fruit, and he gives in to compression, you can start harvesting. And the characteristic bright color also indicates that they have reached botanical ripeness. And in order to get butter, they are harvested during a period of full technical ripeness, when the fruits have accumulated enough biologically active substances. They fully mature two weeks after they began to acquire their characteristic color.
In different latitudes, sea buckthorn ripens in different ways, but the optimal period is the end of August and the beginning of September. Before you collect it, you should determine the purpose of the berries. For fresh consumption, for compotes they are collected during the period of botanical ripeness. At this time they are rich in ascorbic acid, solid, non-juice. For the preparation of jam, marmalade, jam, butter will have to wait two weeks. Berries will become juicy and soft.
How best to collect useful berry
Collecting sea buckthorn in comparison with other shrubs may at first glance seem problematic. The berries sit tight on a short stalk, and in turn they firmly cling to the soft skin of the fruit. If it is soft, then it immediately rumples in the hands, the discharged juice unpleasantly stings the skin, leaving irritation on it. The branches are covered with thorns, which are badly wounded, delivering unpleasant pain, and the berries on them are a huge amount. Collecting each separately, it will take a lot of time. If you cut the whole grapes, you can harm the plant, so you have to find a way out.
As they say - there are no hopeless situations. Our gardeners have long used safe and fast methods of picking such useful berries, while respecting the rules. First - the berries should be separated in the direction from top to bottom. Secondly, it is better to wear an apron or a bathrobe for such an event, because juice will surely stand out from the berries and spoil the clothes because the stains do not wash out.
Options for collecting sea buckthorn, which can be used:
- Hard, but simple and fast - the branches with the fruits are carefully cut from the tree and frozen. In this form, the berries easily, easily come off and this is the advantage of this method. The disadvantage is that it is convenient only if the berries are stored frozen, and it is no longer possible to make jam and juice from them
- Normal - with hands, using special scissors, used for almost all berries. Its main drawback is that the process also takes a lot of time. There are other disadvantages - you can ruin a plant by inaccurate use of a tool, cutting all branches to a single one. Then at home, in more comfortable conditions, you can separate the berries for berries. But there are also advantages of this method - if you are responsible, be attentive to work (leave at the trunk of at least five centimeters of branch), the plant will remain healthy, the berries will not be damaged, and the crop will be maximum and quality. For the next season, new shoots will appear on the ground of the correct cut.
If a branch pruning method is used to collect sea buckthorn, the tree needs temporary respite. To guarantee new yields from this method is better to give up.
The orange beauty differs from other berries in that it is completely impossible to wash the ripe berries. To do this, it is most convenient to use a hose, and the wet berries on the tree dry faster and well.
At the time when the sea buckthorn has ripened, in order to gather its fruits, it is good to stock up on simple, convenient for such an event devices:
Little butterfly net
It is made of tin and bag of polyethylene. A piece of tin is twisted into a tube ten centimeters long. Its diameter should be slightly larger than the size of the berries. At one end is attached tape or tape package. Passing and pressing the straw on the branch, the berries are in the package
A loop
Because of its shape among gardeners referred to as "cobra." The wire is bent in the shape of a candle wick and attached in a wooden handle. In this way, it is possible to separate difficult clusters on high branches.
Slingshot
In appearance, this is an ordinary children's slingshot, but instead of a rubber band, a tightly stretched fishing line is used for fishing or wire. If you hold such a string on a branch, the berries are showered in the framed trays, spread fabric or oilcloth.
Not particularly difficult is the process of harvesting juice. Some gardeners squeeze his hands with gloves in the berries that are right on the tree, then filter.
There is also the most common, easiest and fastest way to collect sea buckthorn. You should wait for the first frost, spread the litter around the tree and just shake the branches. Crumbled berries move well from spoiled specimens, litter and leaves are removed. This option is most suitable for large-scale plantations, in the season of abundant harvest of sea buckthorn, but it is suitable for long-term storage of only frozen berries.
Not left without attention and sea buckthorn leaves. It is popular in cooking and is used as a seasoning for fish, meat dishes. It is especially appreciated for its medicinal properties, if the gastrointestinal tract is impaired, in atherosclerosis, hypertension. The greatest amount of nutrients in them accumulates before the start of flowering shrubs (the month of June). Leaves can also be picked while picking berries.
The harvest of sea buckthorn can be saved in any way - prepare tasty blanks, chop fresh berries and mix with sugar, freeze with twigs or individual berries, dry, soak. There are plenty of options to enjoy a healthy, fragrant berry, and at the same time improve your health.
