Collection of edible roots, berries of wild fruits is ... Time of collection and harvesting of fruits of wild plants

Collecting edible roots, berries, wild fruits is an exciting activity! It will appeal to those who experience euphoria from the chirping of forest birds, the magnificent magnificence of green plantations, the ringing brook and a flock of colorful butterflies circling over forest flowers. Before you go on a trip, you need to understand what is so valuable in the forest gifts of nature?

The value of berries and fruits

It is known that wild plants have the ability to accumulate mineral salts, vitamins and sugar in huge quantities. Physicians emphasize that forest berries, roots and fruits significantly improve the process of digestion of food.

Along with this in the human body increases the digestibility of fats, proteins and minerals. Most often, the main components of berries and roots are vitamins: B, C, E, K, R. Of course, once consumed, all the collected gifts can not be eaten, so it is recommended that they be collected and prepared according to all the rules.

In the forest for berries

Collection of edible roots, berries, wild fruits is a period of dry weather. Usually it starts on the fine days of May and ends in October-November. All admirers of the wild nature are advised to take along wicker baskets or plastic buckets.

If a container with a wooden bottom, it is desirable to fill it with paper blank sheets. This will help protect berries and roots from unwanted foreign smells. Experts warn: fruits can not be knocked down with a stick or brushed off branches, as some do. After all, forest gifts can darken from a bruise and lose quality.

Tips for collecting and harvesting

How is the wild berries and fruits collected? Usually in each locality of Russia there are their favorite plants. For example, for medium latitudes - mountain ash, hawthorn, dog rose, bilberry, blackberry.

First, visually evaluate the green plantation itself. Is it sufficiently far from the roadway? The farther away the fruit trees and bushes are from the gassed places, hiding in the depths of the forest - so they are environmentally cleaner. Also, you should inspect the leaves of trees and shrubs - have they suffered from harmful insects?

Then you need to evaluate the berries and fruits. To collect it is recommended to select whole forest gifts with a bright color. It is very important that a rotten fruit or a crumpled berry does not fall into the general basket. This can lead to spoilage of the entire workpiece. After the capacity is filled up to the top with wonderful gifts, we can assume that the harvest of berries and fruits is complete!

The way to save

The next stage is drying. This is a common way of storing. It allows you to save not only the appearance of the berry, but also its taste qualities. The most important thing is to choose the right place for drying.

It should be well ventilated and shady. Berries and fruits are washed before drying only if they are heavily soiled. In other cases, this is not recommended. It is also important that the place for drying is not exposed to high temperature and direct sunlight.

Some lay out berries and fruits on linen cloth, but it is best to choose capacious containers with a lid. This will protect the wild gifts from insects. As you can see, the collection of edible roots, berries, wild fruits is only the first step. It is necessary to study the technique of preserving natural wealth in order to obtain a quality product.

Common berries and fruits

Probably, to inexperienced readers in the field of wild plantations it will be interesting to know that one of the most popular shrubs with fruits is cowberry. It grows in deciduous and coniferous forests and is famous not only in Russia, but also in other countries.

Cowberry is considered a prolific plantation - one weave can yield about 60 kilograms of berries. They are used with great success in the form of fillings for pies and sweets. Also from cowberries are obtained excellent jam and cooling mors.

No less popular in Russia is blueberries. Its bushes resemble a spread net, and poets compare it to a carpet. And what's the most interesting, when you go on such a blueberry coating, then notice how varied the size and number of berries!

On the old branches can hang 10-15 pieces, and for the young only 5-6 berries. Despite its pleasant taste, blueberries do not have aroma, but jam made from it is delicious. Medical research has shown that if you regularly eat raw blueberries, then you can keep your eyesight until old age.

The collection of blueberries is different every year. According to the yield, as the saying goes, there is no year for a year. In one season, a large amount of time can be spent gathering wild berries and filling only one can. And next year the harvest can be so rich that the locals will prefer to engage in the trade of berries.

No less valuable are the fruits of barberry. It is used not only in dessert dishes, but also as a seasoning for meat. Fans of autumn and winter walks will gladly collect the fruits of hawthorn, dog rose and mountain ash. From these berries jam are cooked, they make delicious drinks and make healing infusions.

Harvesting of roots

The collection of edible roots, berries, wild fruits is a topic that can be talked about endlessly. Consider how the roots of various plants are harvested and harvested. They are mostly medicinal.

Surely, many have heard that in the famine years of war, people were rescued by the roots of grasses of a blood-grouse, burdock, grasshopper and lungwort. In addition, they are widely used in medicine: comfrey, kozloborodnik, buttnik. True, some types of moccasin are recognized as poisonous and dangerous to human life. Therefore, the collection and harvesting of its root is recommended to professionals.

The roots of some plants - Jerusalem artichoke, chicory, water chestnut - are used not only for the prevention and treatment of various diseases, but also in cooking. Prepare roots and rhizomes in spring or autumn. They dig them out with a special scoop - a digger.

It has a rounded blade that helps to release the root from the ground in one motion. But the usual spiky spade will also work. After digging out the root should be carefully shaken off the ground, so as not to damage it. Then rinse well in cold water.

Usually this is done like this: a basket with rooted roots is immersed in water and allowed to drain off dirty water. Before drying, the raw materials should be carefully sorted out and get rid of substandard components. The largest roots are cut to pieces. Unlike the procurement of fruits and berries, the edible root must be dried in the sun, periodically turning it over.

The well dried raw material has a uniform brown color and breaks easily, with a characteristic crunch. After that, dry roots can be put in linen bags or make infusions on alcohol. Despite seeming harmless, taking medications from the root requires a doctor's advice.