Chokeberry berries are used in different preparations: in some cases it is desirable to collect completely ripe fruits, in others - slightly unripe ones. In the regions, the time for picking berries varies somewhat, but in any case it is done in the fall: chokeberry is one of the last to ripen in the garden.
When to collect chokeberry
Chokeberry (chokeberry) is a beautiful shrub, covered with blue-black fruits by autumn. Already in August it seems that they are ripe, but this is not so: seemingly ready, the berries should hang on the bushes for a long time.
It is difficult to indicate the exact date for harvesting chokeberry: it depends not only on the region and current weather, but also on the purpose of the fruit. These are not the most delicious berries; they are almost never eaten fresh: the tart, astringent taste is “not for everyone.” But various dishes are prepared from chokeberry, and the benefits of the berries during processing are reduced insignificantly.
The fruits of chokeberry should be collected together with the clusters, cut with scissors or pruners, and the harvest should be placed in plastic or enamel buckets, but not galvanized. Further processing takes place in the kitchen: it is not always necessary to pick the berries from the branches, it is better to dry them on them, and you shouldn’t pick them for wine.
After picking the berries, they need to be processed or at least frozen within a few days.
To prepare wines and liqueurs, you need to wait until the berries are completely ripe and acquire the bouquet of taste and aroma they are due.
Therefore, in most regions, such a harvest is planned for October, but the chokeberry must not be allowed to fall under severe frost: the berry caught by frost contains too many tannins that prevent fermentation.
For freezing, chokeberries are harvested a little earlier, usually in September. By this time, the berries should only begin to soften slightly, but overall be firm and rich in color.
Berries last the longest on the bushes if they are going to be made into jam: fruits that have been exposed to the first light frost are especially good for this purpose. Their time is approaching only towards the end of October, but if a small number of berries are needed only “for color” to decorate jam or compote from apples or pears, they can be removed much earlier. The crop is also harvested for drying at the same time.
When making jam, only a faint memory remains in the taste of the former astringency of chokeberry
As for various regions, in the south of Russia and most of Ukraine, chokeberry fully ripens by the middle or end of September, although the berries turn black already in mid-summer. During particularly warm seasons, berry picking in these regions begins at the very beginning of autumn.
In the middle zone and, in particular, in the Moscow region, berries can be considered ripe only by mid-October, and in the Urals or Siberia this occurs no earlier than the beginning of November.
The same applies to northern regions, such as the Leningrad or Vologda regions.
In any case, 2.5–3 months should pass from the blooming of flowers, which is observed in June-July, to the full ripening of the berries.
External signs of ripening berries You won’t eat unripe chokeberry “from the bush” - this is the main sign that the berries are not ready for picking. They are unsweetened, astringent, and simply tasteless. The benchmark for maturity is the sweetish taste and the disappearance of excessive astringency. Besides the taste, indirect sign
The state of the berries is the color of the juice. Unripe fruits have light-colored juice, while ripe ones have purple juice.
Until the berries have acquired an intense black-purple color, there is no point in even trying them
To the touch, ripe rowan is elastic, but dense. She loses her excessive rigidity (she ceases to be “like a stone”). Now there are many varieties of chokeberry, but the color of the ripe berries of most of them is the same: rich black with a blue-violet tint.
The time for harvesting chokeberry berries depends on the climate and the purpose of the crop. However, if in doubt, there is no need to rush to pick: the berries hang beautifully on the bushes and do not spoil, unless, of course, real winter has arrived. Chokeberry berries are used to make homemade wine and liqueurs; they are dried for the winter in medicinal purposes chokeberry.
Chokeberry or chokeberry is not only an ornamental shrub in our gardens and plots. Closer to autumn, the harvest of berries begins to ripen, which, if not removed, can remain on the branches until spring. This is where the question arises: at what time are the berries considered ripe, and at what time should they be picked?
By autumn, the berry harvest begins to ripen.
Exact recommendations for harvesting times depend on the purpose of the collected berries and the purposes for their use. Chokeberry does not have a delightful aroma or appetizing taste, but this berry is very healthy and even medicinal. It is effectively used in cooking in the preparation of desserts and baked goods, added to sauces, and included in fruit juices and jams.
The slightly tart taste of rowan fruits adds refined notes to many dishes and drinks. In addition, chokeberry is a recognized medicinal product in folk and traditional medicine. It has anti-inflammatory, choleretic and diuretic effects, reduces allergic symptoms, helps with increased blood pressure. Its use helps remove radionuclides from the body and heavy metals. And to take full advantage of these taste and medicinal properties You need to harvest the crop on time and use it correctly.
Advice! To collect berries, use only enamel, glass or plastic containers, since containers made of galvanized steel or aluminum negatively affect the taste of the fruit.
To collect berries, use only enamel, glass or plastic dishes
This method of harvesting is much more productive than if you remove each berry separately.
Aronia is harvested in the following way: using pruning shears or scissors, cut off the umbrella inflorescences as a whole branch, and then, if necessary, separate the berries from the stalks (you don’t have to sort them out if the raw materials are being prepared for wine). This method of harvesting is much more productive than if you remove each berry separately. In addition, a tree freed from brushes recovers faster, and berries missed during normal harvesting and left for the winter can become a breeding ground for infections in the spring. The harvested crop must be immediately processed in order to preserve maximum nutrients.
One-component jams and compotes are prepared from chokeberry or included in assorted fruits and berries. The berries begin to take on color already in August, but their taste is very tart and astringent. Ripening continues until the end of September and by this time the fruits become much juicier and sweeter, but still there is astringency in them. If you plan to add berries to add color, for example, to apple or pear compotes, then they can be collected in early autumn, without waiting for full ripening. A handful of dense, black rowan berries will decorate bright zucchini or melon jam and give them a special piquant taste.
Chokeberry jam
Compote of apples and chokeberries
If you are planning one-component chokeberry preparations, then you should delay harvesting and leave it until the first frost. In the middle zone, this period occurs in October, when the nighttime drop in temperature softens the taste of the berries, makes them even juicier, sweeter, and the astringency almost disappears. It’s worth trying a few berries to decide whether they are already suitable for preparations or whether you can still “ripen” them in the freezer.
Here is one recipe for healthy, aromatic and vitamin-rich chokeberry and lemon jam.
Ingredients:
- sorted chokeberry berries – 1 kg;
- sugar – 1.2 kg;
- lemon – 2 pcs;
- water – 0.5 l.
Bring the water to a boil, add a glass of sugar. After boiling, add a glass of berries, as soon as it boils again - again a glass of sugar and so on until everything is over. At the end, add chopped lemon, cut into cubes along with the peel and boil everything, stirring, for another five minutes. The finished jam is laid out in sterile jars, distributed hermetically in the syrup, sealed and left upside down until completely cooled. The advantage of this method of preparation is that the consistency of the resulting jam will be homogeneous.
After adding the lemon, boil everything, stirring, for another five minutes.Collection of chokeberries for drying and liqueurs
Properly dried rowan berries are stored for a long time in room conditions. They are used as remedy for daily consumption, as well as in winter for preparing various drinks or as a filling for pies.
Dried chokeberry (chokeberry)
In winter, dried berries are used to prepare various drinks.
Dried rowan berries are used as a filling for pies
For drying, only well-ripened fruits are taken, preferably after frost, so that the berries lose their astringency and become sweet. Rowan berries are dried in the sun, in the oven, in a special dryer, and even in the microwave. It doesn’t matter which method you choose, but the main thing in this process is low temperature so that the berries do not bake, but dry out gradually, retaining all the useful substances.
By the end of October, when the berries become juicy and soft, you can begin collecting raw materials for making homemade wine. Experienced housewives recommend harvesting after rain, which not only washes away dust and debris, but also knocks down bad berries - dry or spoiled. Don't wait for a noticeable drop in autumn temperatures. Frozen fruits are not suitable for wine, because they initially contain a lot of tannins that interfere with fermentation, and freezing further reduces the activity of these processes.
In terms of vitamin C content, rowan is simply a champion. In addition, it contains large quantities of vitamins A, E, group B, as well as phosphorus, iron, potassium, calcium, zinc, manganese, pectins, ascorbic acid, nicotine, folic acid and others necessary for the body substances. Interesting fact: content malic acid, which improves metabolic processes in the body and normalizes digestion; there is more rowan berries than apples themselves.
Rowan juice helps with many liver diseases; if consumed regularly, you can reduce cholesterol and improve vision. Rowan juice has antibactericidal and wound-healing properties; with its help, warts were previously very successfully removed (you just need to lubricate the wart with freshly squeezed juice).
Hypertension, urolithiasis disease, violations menstrual cycle, uterine bleeding- the list of diseases for which rowan will bring relief is quite long.
Let’s just make a reservation right away: if we want to benefit, we won’t pick rowan trees within the city. Its berries, like any other berries, can accumulate a wide variety of harmful substances, of which there is an abundance in the city air. For the “correct” mountain ash we will go to the forest, to the country house, to where the environmental situation is better.
Healthy recipes
Grind the rowan berries, add a little honey and lemon juice - you get excellent remedy to strengthen the immune system. And if you add not only honey, but also butter to the mashed berries, this mixture will become a lifesaver for constipation.
Many healthy drinks are made from rowan. Here, for example, is a rowan-rosehip decoction with honey, which will help cope with a cold.
Take half a glass of rowan and rosehip berries, add two glasses of water and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Fill the glass by a third with the broth, add a tablespoon of honey and top up the glass with warm milk. We will take this drink three times a day. Both tasty and healthy - if only all medicines were like this!For beauty
Rowan has long been adopted by Russian beauties. Beads made from rowan berries are a classic. But rowan is also excellent cosmetic product. For example, here is an excellent mask for dry and mature skin.
Take a tablespoon of pureed berries, add half a tablespoon each of sour cream and cottage cheese, an egg yolk and a teaspoon of honey, mix thoroughly. Keep the mask on for a quarter of an hour and wash off with warm water.
If you have greasy hair, grind two tablespoons of rowan berries and rub this mixture at the roots. Wrap your head in a warm towel and keep the mask on for about half an hour. Just a few of these procedures will be enough, and your hair will be transformed.
Chokeberry is widely used in medicine, because it has incredible healing properties. Jams and jams are also made from this berry, added to pies, frozen for the winter, and even made. Let's figure out when to collect chokeberry.
Chokeberry harvest
The berry ripening period begins at the end of summer. It turns black, picks up juice and over time becomes sweet and sour. But at what time of year should you collect chokeberry? It depends on the further use of the berries. For jam or preserves, it is cut at the end of autumn. It is at this time that it is very juicy. Well, for compote - in early October, when the acid from the berries disappears.
Chokeberry can be harvested throughout the entire autumn season. Determining the degree of its maturity is very simple. To do this, press on the berry and squeeze out a little juice. If it is light in color, then the berry is still unripe and sour, but if the juice is purple, then this is the ideal time to pick chokeberries.
It is important to know when you can collect chokeberries for freezing or drying. The berries should not be overripe, but not hard either. The optimal time for collection is mid-October. At this time, the rowan is no longer sour and is full of useful vitamins. For freezing, the rowan is separated from the stalk, placed in an airtight container and sent to the freezer. Thus, the mountain ash can lie all winter without losing its beneficial properties. And to dry the berries, hang them or lay them out in whole bunches in a dry, bright place for a couple of weeks, then put them in bags. With this option of harvesting rowan for the winter, its healing and taste properties are also not lost.
When to harvest chokeberry for wine?
The wine made from this berry is very tasty and healthy, but you need to collect it in time. It's difficult to make mistakes in this matter. As soon as the mountain ash turns black and becomes soft, immediately begin harvesting. This usually happens at the end of October. It is best to collect chokeberries for wine after rain, when the dust has been washed off and the “sick” berries have fallen off. Make sure they are not wrinkled or rotten. Frozen or dried berries are absolutely not suitable for wine. Take seriously the selection of the container in which you will stand the rowan. It should be made of stainless steel or enamel coated. Choose just such dishes and then you will achieve the desired result.
