Cowberry picking: when is it possible and how, how to make do-it-yourself fixtures

Cowberry is considered one of the most useful berries, which includes a large number of useful trace elements. Our great-grandmothers were also engaged in the collection of lingonberries, when there were no medicines, and folk recipes were the only remedy for diseases. Cowberry berries help boost immunity, cope with beriberi and much more.

When the berries ripen

Berry picking begins at the end of summer. Fruits ripen in late August - early September. The last ripe berries are harvested from the bushes in mid-September.After ripening, lingonberries do not stay on the bushes for a long time and crumble after a while. The second stage of fruiting begins in October-November.

How the timing of collection depends on the variety and region of growth

Depending on the variety, fruiting and harvest time may vary. Some varieties ripen earlier, some later. Also, the timing of harvesting depends on the region of growth. In warmer latitudes, lingonberries ripen a few weeks earlier. Berry picking begins in mid-July in the south.

When is it allowed to pick lingonberries in the forest?

In the forest, berries can be picked in the last days of August. Forest lingonberries ripen a little later than garden lingonberries, even if the plant grows in the same region.

What you need to know about fruit picking?

Before harvesting lingonberry bushes, you need to find out by what signs the ripeness of fruits is determined and the easier it is to harvest them.

Harvesting order

Berries are harvested immediately after ripening. If you wait for frost, such fruits are only suitable for making jams and compotes, since the skin will not be dense after frost.

It is undesirable to use a rake or any other improvised devices when harvesting.

Better to harvest by hand. Rakes or scoops will damage the branches of the bushes. After harvesting, lingonberry berries do not ripen, so they are plucked at the stage of technical maturity. It is advisable to cut off the bushes in a cool time, early in the morning or in the evening. If the weather is hot, lingonberries are harvested immediately. Due to the high temperature, it can become overripe and disappear quickly.

Berry Pickers

Collect cranberries preferably with your hands, so as not to damage the bushes. But if you need to assemble quickly, it is allowed to use improvised means, for example, a rake or a combine. The better, everyone chooses for himself.

Harvesting rake

It is worth resorting to this method in extreme cases, when the collection time is running out. The cleaning device should be with long and rare teeth. The device is lowered to the base of the plant trunk so that the branches are located between the teeth, and lifted up. In the process of such manipulations, almost all the berries are removed from the bushes. The remains of lingonberries are plucked by hand.

Combine

If a large number of lingonberry bushes grow on the site, then you can purchase a special harvester to speed up the work.

Hand-held combines with process mechanization are suitable for home use.

How to make a harvester for harvesting cranberries and other berries with your own hands?

You can make your own berry picker at home. For this you will need:

Wire.
Wooden slats.
Sheet of steel or iron.
A piece of plywood (also use plastic).
Mount.

Scoop assembly process:

Cut out paper patterns for the combine.
The bottom and the case itself are cut out of steel.
On a separate sheet, bend the corner - this is the future cutter.
In the second part of the sheet, drill holes at a distance of 3-4 mm from each other, the diameter is equal to the diameter of the wire.
Cut the wire 10 cm long and insert it into the holes, then fix it.
The ends of the wire are bent so that the berries do not fall during the picking process.
The device body is assembled from fasteners, then the assembled rake is screwed to them.
Handles are made of galvanized steel.

With the help of such a device, the harvesting process will be faster than manually. The main thing is not to damage the bushes.

Will harvested white or green lingonberries ripen at home

Green fruits are not suitable for eating, so you can not collect them. At home, they also do not ripen. It is not recommended to eat unripe lingonberries. If the berries are just starting to turn red, but they have white spots (still unripe), such a crop can be harvested. He will mature at home. But this should only be done in extreme cases. It is still worth waiting for full maturity.

Storage duration without processing

Due to the dense skin and the presence of benzoic acid in the composition, the berries are stored for a long time even when fresh. And to keep the crop as long as possible, there are many ways. True, without processing, the fruits are stored only in the freezer and in dried form.

How to store cranberries?

Cowberry can be stored in different ways. Jams, compotes are prepared from it, frozen, ground with sugar. There are a large number of different ways. It is best to store fresh fruits in a dark, cool room. If lingonberries are stored in the refrigerator, do not keep them in a bag. Due to the appearance of condensation, it will begin to disappear.

In own juice

Sort and wash the lingonberries. Pour into a deep bowl, lightly crush the berries with a fork so that they release the juice. Cover the container with a cloth and place in a cool place, such as a refrigerator. After a few days, the lingonberries are transferred to glass jars and cleaned in the cellar. Lingonberries in their own juice are suitable for teas and making vitamin drinks.

Dried fruit

Another way to store harvested fruits is to dry them. Dried lingonberries keep up to 2 years. Dry the berries naturally in the sun or in the oven. In a natural way, raw materials will be processed for several days. In the oven - less than 1 day. But you will have to constantly monitor the oven and spend the whole day on the process.

Spread the raw materials on the windowsill in one layer. The main thing is that the berries are in the sun as often as possible. They are stirred periodically. Lingonberries are dried in this way for about a week. Dried raw materials are stored in cloth bags or glass containers.

Oven drying steps:

Sort and wash the berries.
Towel dry.
Spread out on parchment paper on a baking sheet.
The oven is preheated to 60 degrees.
Place the tray in the oven for a few hours.
Periodically, you should look and turn the lingonberries so as not to burn them.

Ready lingonberries are firm to the touch. The skin becomes wrinkled. The berries dried in this way are also stored in cloth bags or glass.

In sugar

Harvesting berries in this way, according to the cooking technology, is similar to cooking in your own juice. Lingonberries are washed in water, transferred to a container and kneaded with a fork. Or you can grind it with a blender to get a homogeneous mass. Add sugar to taste and mix thoroughly. Transfer the resulting mixture to jars and close the lid. Store in a cool place away from sunlight.

Freezing lingonberry fruits

The easiest way to freeze cranberries is in the freezer. To do this, you just have to sort out the berries, dry them and pack them in bags. Remove to freezer. Such berries are as close as possible to fresh taste.

Soaked cranberries with sugar and s alt

To prepare this recipe you will need:

1 kg cranberries;
155g sugar;
1 tsp fine s alt;
1L filtered water.

Cooking:

Rinse the berries and let them dry.
Make syrup from water, sugar and s alt.
Spread lingonberries into jars and pour over hot syrup, without adding a little to the edge.
Wrap the top of the jar with gauze or cover with a lid with holes.
Jars leave in room for 3 weeks.

In 3 weeks the lingonberries will be ready, and the jar can be put in the refrigerator or lowered into the basement.

Soaked cranberries with s alt:

2 kg fruit;
2L filtered water;
2 tbsp. l. s alt;
1 tbsp l. sugar;
a couple of carnation stars.

Cooking:

Rinse the fruits and transfer to a jar.
Cook a brine from water, s alt, sugar and cloves.
Pour the fruits with cooled brine.
Cover the jars with a lid and put them in a dark room.
Clove is added to the brine at will, it gives the lingonberry a spicy aroma and flavor. Other than her, any spices are suitable.

The berries will be ready in a few weeks. The dish is added to some salads. Especially well s alted soaked lingonberries are combined with sauerkraut. It is added to cabbage before pickling.