Sea buckthorn is a very tasty, fragrant and healthy berry, but many bypass it, because they simply do not know how and what to remove from the branches. In fact, not everything is so difficult, and people have long thought of many ways to do this.
Terms of cleaning
In different climatic zones, the ripening time of sea buckthorn may differ, respectively, will be different and the harvest time. In order to harvest from sea buckthorn turned out tasty and useful, you need to understand and remember when it is better to harvest.
Next to the sea buckthorn is not worth planting raspberries, black currants and strawberries - they will oppress each other. Also, mushrooms, tomatoes and potatoes are detrimental.If you plan to make a compote or jam from it, then the harvesting will begin in the first days of September, when the fruits are yellow and contain less juice. If harvesting juice, jam or marmalade is planned, it is better to wait a few weeks with the harvest when the branches of the bush turn bright orange.
Sea buckthorn is also called the berry-pill, because to obtain the daily requirement of vitamins, only one tablespoon of such "tablets" is enough.
Did you know? In ancient Greece, sea buckthorn was called the "brilliant horse." The animals that grazed in the thickets of this shrub became plump, and their skin and mane began to shine.
How to quickly collect sea buckthorn: harvesting equipment
Sea buckthorn got its name for a very high yield - the berries literally stick over branches and trunk. But it is not so easy to collect them, because the bush has many thorns, and the berries sit so tightly on the branches that it is impossible to remove them from there and not crush them without a certain skill.
Inventive gardeners have carefully studied the question of how to collect sea buckthorn quickly and come up with a lot of tools to facilitate this process.
Viburnum, juniper, edible honeysuckle, gooseberry, black ashberry, silver sucker, blueberry, blueberry, yoshta, prince, cloudberry will delight you with tasty and healthy berries if you grow them in your garden.
Net for collecting
In order for the berries during the collection did not fall to the ground and do not spoil, it is quite simple to make peculiar net. To do this, take a thick wire and bend into a ring, the diameter of which is at least 60 cm. Fabric, gauze or polyethylene is sewn onto the ring, and then one of its sides is curved to fit the chest, and tape on both sides. Such a net is hung on the neck, and the crop falls directly into it, and not on the ground.
Pruning
If the site grows several bushes of this orange beauty, then in order to collect the sea buckthorn berries, it is quite applicable branch trimming method. A sharp shears carefully cut off the branches, leaving 5 cm from the trunk, and then tearing berries from them. Thanks to this method, the plants are rejuvenated at the same time, because next year young shoots will appear on the cutting sites.
Important! The collected berries can not be washed, as they burst and crumple. It is much easier on the eve to wash them right on the tree with a hose.
Scurrying berries
Harvesting is usually done using a slingshot or wire loop, as well as a tin tube.
- Slingshot - This is really a children's slingshot with a string, wire or fishing line taut. This "string" is carried along branches, and the berries fall onto spreading oilcloth or into a framed tray.
- Wire loop, popularly called "cobra" for its shape - a curved strong wire attached to a wooden handle, the tip of which is given the shape of a burning candle wick. This simple and worthless device is easy to get berries, even on poorly accessible branches.
- Device resembling miniature net, can be made from a piece of tin and a plastic bag. To do this, take a can or an unnecessary piece of tin, twist the tube, which is about 10 cm long, and the diameter is slightly larger than the size of the berries. At the bottom of the tube to wrap tape or tape and attach the bag. The tubing passes through the branches, slightly pressing, and the sea buckthorn is in the bag.
Important! If the purpose of harvesting berries is to prepare the juice, then this can be done without tearing them from the tree. Putting gloves on your hands, squeeze the juice straight from the branches, and then filter.
Use comb
Some gardeners use the so-called combs made of wood or plastic for harvesting, making them personally or buying them. At the ridge at the end of the rare teeth, which pass the leaves, and the berries are removed. But this method is not as effective as the previous ones, since such a crest is easy to damage.
Frost as a way to harvest
The most popular and least laborious way is to wait until the berries freeze right on the tree, and just shake off them from there to the pre-spread bedding. True, we must immediately sort them out, discard the garbage, leaves and spoiled berries.
With a bountiful harvest and a large number of bushes, this method is the easiest and fastest. True, the berries collected in this way are suitable only for further storage in frozen form. 
How to collect sea buckthorn: useful tips and advice
Here are some tips to help you pick the berries correctly and quickly:
- Collecting sea buckthorn is most convenient to start from the top of the head and gradually move to the lower branches.
- It is necessary to work in comfortable gloves and an apron made of thick fabric, since sea buckthorn juice can cause allergies, and it is very difficult to wash it off.
- If you decided to use the pruning method for picking berries, you should take breaks and let the tree rest. But it is better to refuse this method, so as not to destroy the tree.
Did you know? Sea buckthorn was the first tool that was used to treat the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.Undoubtedly, the benefits derived from the use of this magic berries-pills, more than pays for the effort spent on its preparation. Whatever method you use, your body will in any case say thank you for such a gift. Having figured out how to properly collect sea buckthorn, you can enjoy its pleasant taste and delicious aroma all year round.
