How and when can hawthorn be collected

Hawthorn is a useful medicinal plant, widely used as an effective folk remedy for a variety of diseases. Its fruits have not only healing properties, but are also used for culinary purposes .To get the maximum benefit from it, you need to strictly follow the recommendations on how to collect and store. In this article, we consider the methods of harvesting and storage of hawthorn for the winter at home.

.The fruits are used for food and medicinal purposes, the remaining parts - only in medicinal. The collection of hawthorn fruit in central Russia is carried out in the period of their maturation. Hawthorn begins to ripen in autumn, around the end of September. Fully matured, it has the greatest concentration of vitamins.

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It is important to have time to do this before the first frost, otherwise cold-damaged berries will be unsuitable for further storage of .In overripe condition they begin to become covered with mold. It is undesirable to collect hawthorn from bushes located close to busy highways or near an industrial area - they may contain high levels of harmful substances.

Hawthorn bush with

fruits The best weather to collect is dry and calm, time is daytime when the dew has time to dry. Ripe berries - an attractive treat for birds, so you need to have time to collect them quickly. Maturity is determined by the color of the fruit - it should be bright red .The berries are not harvested individually, but are cut off in clusters, and then carefully placed them in baskets or pallets. On-site rejection of damaged, unripe, rotten, over-ripe fruits is made.

The collection of leaves begins before the appearance of flowers and takes place during the entire flowering period, starting in mid-May and ending in early June. Leaves only clean, undamaged leaf blades, carefully cutting them off with the rest of the stem. For convenience, you can take a scissors.

Prepare hawthorn flowers at the initial stage of flowering, which occurs in different bushes at different times, starting in May and ending in June. You need to finish the collection within 5-6 days from the beginning of flowering of a particular bush. Inflorescences are carefully cut with shears or come off by hand, then placed in a dry container in such a way as to prevent their deformation.

Flowers of Hawthorn

The bark is collected during the active movement of the juice in early spring. If a liquid starts to stand out from the incision made on the plant stem, the time is right and the bark will easily separate from the wood. Collection of raw materials produced from young shrubs, whose age does not exceed 4 years .On the surface of the trunks make transverse annular cuts, connecting them with a straight longitudinal. Then the bark is carefully removed. To carry out this operation in the summer will not work, because in this season the movement of the juice in the plants is slow.

Hawthorn contains a huge amount of beneficial vitamins: in its composition you can find vitamins C and P, thiamine, carotene, choline, riboflavin. There are organic acids in it - malic, citric, amber. It also contains a considerable amount of sugar in the form of fructose. As for trace elements, they are represented by zinc, copper, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, molybdenum, magnesium and cobalt.

How to save for the winter?

Long-term storage is carried out in one of 4 states:

1. dried
2. Frozen
4. conserved in the form of aqueous or alcoholic tinctures

In the first case hawthorn thoroughly dried , and then stored in a clean container, the reach of moisture and sunlight, ventilated room. Storage is carried out in canvas bags or glass jars. In the second case, it is well washed, is placed in a food container and frozen .Procurement for the future can be carried out by canning - in the form of jam or jam . is also stored in the form of various kinds of tinctures, sealed in an airtight container.

Dried fruit storage

A popular way to store hawthorn is drying. There are two ways to do it:

1. Natural( slow)
2. Artificial( fast)

The first method, , takes much longer but also allows you to save more vitamins, due to the lack of heat treatment, which destroys some of the nutrients. Carefully washed and sorted raw materials are laid down in a thin layer on paper or cloth. After which it is left for a few days in the attic or in another clean, ventilated place, protected from moisture and sunlight. In the process of drying, the hawthorn is periodically turned over for uniform drying of the .It is especially important to do this for the berries, in order to avoid their rotting. Fully dried fruits - light and wrinkled, not sticking to each other when squeezed, decreased to 4 times compared with their previous size, have a specific bitter smell and taste.

Dried hawthorn

The second way is very fast, but at the same time reduces the beneficial effect of hawthorn. Prepared raw material is laid out on a baking sheet and sent to the oven or electric dryer. The temperature is maintained at 40-60 degrees, or 30-40 degrees, if you need better, but at the same time a longer drying. It is not recommended to raise it above the specified threshold, otherwise the hawthorn can be burnt or baked. If drying is carried out in the oven, it is important not to forget from time to time to open its door, removing moisture from the cabinet. It will not be superfluous to mix the fruits regularly, thus ensuring the uniformity of their drying. The whole process, in contrast to using the first method, takes several hours, not days.

You can store dried hawthorn in a wide variety of containers:

• Glass jars
• bags made of
• fabric Paper bags
• under boxes
• Wooden boxes

Storing dried hawthorn in a bottle in a bottle in a bank in a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank a

Cardboard boxes

Storing dried hawthorn in a bottle in a bank in a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank a

Cardboard boxes

Storing dried hawthorn in a bottle in a bank in a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank a

Cardboard boxes

Storing dried hawthorn in a bottle in a bank in a bank a bank in a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank in a bank a bank a

Cardboard boxes

Storing dried hawthorn in a bottle in a bank a bank in a bank.access of fresh air. Plastic bags cannot be used as a container - they do not allow air to pass through. The maximum shelf life in this form is 2 years, after which the raw materials begin to lose their useful properties.

Frozen

Berries Another popular way to store hawthorn, to preserve its beneficial properties, is to freeze its fruits in the refrigerator. Frozen berries are used in the same way as dried - they are used as flavoring agents for dishes, for making compotes, tea, medicinal infusions. The process is carried out quickly - the washed and sorted raw materials are placed in food plastic containers and placed in the freezer. The optimum temperature condition is from -20 to -25 degrees .At temperatures above 20 degrees, fruits can give juice, at temperatures below 25 degrees, vitamins and other nutrients will begin to break down.

Frozen hawthorn berries without pits

Cellophane bags can be used as containers, but in them the product is often crumpled and loses its attractiveness. Their walls should not be wet, so as not to stick to the insides of the chamber. It is possible to freeze fruits not only entirely, but also in the form of twisted in a meat grinder or ground in a mortar. The resulting pulp is stored in a refrigerator in cans or bags. Such mashed potatoes are applied similarly to whole berries - for culinary and medical purposes. The recommended shelf life of frozen hawthorn is for 6 months .

Preparation of homemade tinctures

Any part of the plant - fruit, bark, flowers, leaves - can be used as raw materials. It is used for therapeutic purposes. is an excellent folk medicine that cures many diseases, while having almost no contraindications. Hawthorn tincture can be made in two ways:

1. On water
2. On alcohol

Hawthorn tincture can be prepared on water or on alcohol

Washed raw material is poured with boiling water in a one-to-one ratio, then rolled into a sterilized glass jar with a sealed jar with a sealed, and a sealed, non-lidded, non-stick seal. In the case of the alcohol tincture, vodka or edible alcohol is used as the base, and the resulting liquid is filtered and sealed in clean bottles with tight-fitting lids. Tincture is stored in a dark place , protected from direct sunlight, at air temperature of 10-14 degrees. This may be a cellar or a cool storeroom.

Canning

When canning, hawthorn loses some of its beneficial properties as a result of heat treatment. The carefully selected fruit is used:

• Jam
• Compote
• Jams
• Jam
• Juices

Jam from the hawthorn is done in the following way .1 kg of washed berries is poured with a glass of water and 500 g of granulated sugar are poured, after which the resulting composition is cooked on the stove until it thickens completely. The finished jam is allowed to cool, and roll it into sterilized glass jars.

Hawthorn jam

Hawthorn juice is also well suited for long-term storage of .1 kg of fruit is washed and boiled in a little water for 1-2 hours. After that, the berries are ground into a mush, which resembles puree in consistency, add 1 liter of water and 500 g of sugar to the mixture, bring everything to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Juice rolls in cans immediately, hot.

Hawthorn Juice

Hawthorn jam is made using sour apples. Apples and berries are boiled for a while in a small amount of water, then crushed in mashed potatoes.1 kg of puree of both types is placed in a saucepan, 1 l of water is poured in and 1,500 g of granulated sugar is poured. The resulting mass is boiled down to the required thickness and rolled into small jars.

Jam from hawthorn and apples

Hawthorn compote is characterized by increased complexity of the preparation of .Fruits are cleared of seeds, poured with 30% sugar syrup, and then infused in this form for 10 hours. The resulting infusion is filtered from the berries, put on the fire and brought to a boil. After that, it is poured into a sterilized glass container with an airtight lid, at the bottom of which stacked soaked fruits.

Hawthorn Compote

Hawthorn jam is prepared in the same way as making jam from other berries. It can be used as a five-minute, and a long process of cooking. Fruits can be cleaned or not stoned, left whole or used in a ground form.

Hawthorn Jam Conclusion

Hawthorn is a unique natural product, not only a natural healer, but also a welcome decoration for any table. The leaves, flowers and bark of the plant are a real fount of vitamins. As the fruits, which, in addition to medicinal purposes, can be used in cooking. In the hands of a skilled hostess, hawthorn berries quickly turn into useful and nutritious jams, jams and other sweet products that delight the family all year round.

Hawthorn, preparations and products based on it are not recommended for drivers and other people who are required to react quickly due to the nature of their activities, since in some cases it may cause drowsiness. Its use is contraindicated in pregnant women, due to the risk of miscarriage or uterine tone. In nursing mothers, products based on it can cause a decrease in the amount of breast milk. Another risk group is people with serious kidney or heart disease.