When does forest blueberry ripen?

Ripening of berries is uneven. On one bush, there are fruits at the same time, which are just beginning to pour in, and a large painted gonobel. The timing of the harvest depends on how you plan to use the crop. When picking berries for food, you need to wait until the stage of full maturity, then the blueberries will be as large and sweet as possible. If you have a long transportation, you need to go for the gonobel a little earlier, when the fruits are still firm. The ripening process of berries will be completed during storage. Forest blueberries (gonobel) ripen later than varieties grown in culture.

Where do blueberries grow in nature?

In the wild, blueberries can be found in the forest. There, this shrub has a rather modest size - 50-60 cm in height. In the spring, the bush is covered with small bluish-green leaves, and in the second half of summer, many large bluish berries ripen on it. Blueberries have been cultivated for a long time. The varieties intended for planting in the country are distinguished by larger bush sizes (up to 2.5 m).

Varietal plants give bountiful harvests - 5–6 kg per plant. Their wild relatives cannot boast of such fertility. No more than 250-300 g of berries can be removed from one forest blueberry bush at a time. To collect an impressive amount of the crop, you need to know the places where the gonobel grows in large thickets. In the forest next to blueberries, you can also find other wild berries - blueberries, lingonberries.

Most often, the shrub is found:

• in the swamps;
• along the banks of rivers;
• on forest edges;
• in the highlands.

The plant is unpretentious, it easily tolerates severe frosts, temporary flooding, cool and short summers. In Russia, blueberries are most common in the Urals, the Far East, and Siberia. The plant is suitable for the climate of the Arkhangelsk and Leningrad regions. The gonobel can also be found in the forests of the Moscow region, but here the bush can be found less often.

Ripening dates of blueberries in the forest

Forest blueberry ripens a little later than garden blueberry. The first ripe berries are harvested from the bushes at the end of July. Over the next month, the rest of the fruits ripen on the bush. The fruiting of blueberries is undulating. Berries can appear on the plant until frost.

Methods for determining the signs of crop maturity:

• The fact that the gonobel turned blue does not mean that the stage of full maturity has come.
• You cannot completely focus on the ripening time of the berry.
• In not quite ripe fruits, the skin is more dense, and becomes thinner over time.
• You should definitely try gonobel. Ripe berries have a sweet, not particularly bright taste. Sometimes they have a slight sourness.

You should not overexpose the berries on the bush either. When blueberries are fully ripe, they crumble at the slightest touch. Ripe berries left unrecovered can also rot.

How to collect and store berries?

Do not pick blueberries in hot weather. It is better to go to the forest for berries early in the morning or in the evening at sunset in dry weather. If the harvesting period coincided with prolonged rains, the harvested crop at home must be dried by spreading the gonobel in a thin layer on paper towels.

Raw berries are not stored for a long time and after 2 days they can be covered with a moldy bloom. Blueberries should be washed immediately before eating or before processing. The bloom covering the ripe blueberries provides additional protection against spoilage.

Blueberry picking rules:

• When going into the forest for blueberries, it is better to take a basket or basket with you as a container. These containers have many ventilation openings. In any case, preference is given to containers that are not too deep.
• You need to carefully remove the berries from the bush, trying not to damage or crush them. Hand picking is considered the most gentle, but has a low productivity.
• Wash your hands thoroughly before harvesting.
• When removing blueberries, a container is placed under the branch, the berries will immediately fall into the container.
• A special scoop with a comb will help to quickly harvest the crop; in comparison with the manual method, the harvesting speed increases 3-4 times. The tool can be purchased at a gardening store. The branches of the bush will pass freely between the prongs, and the berries will fall into the scoop.

For storage, the gonobel should be placed in plastic containers immediately after collection and cooled to 2–5 ° C. In the refrigerator, fruits can be stored without loss of marketability for up to 6 days. If the berries were immature, they will last longer - up to 2 weeks. If there is not enough storage space at home, you can use a cellar for this purpose, in which the temperature does not rise above 10 ° C.

You can grow blueberries on your own plot or pick berries in the forest. The fruits of the bush have healing properties and, with regular use, have a beneficial effect on the body. The berries contain important minerals, antioxidants, and a whole range of vitamins. Blueberries are harvested after reaching full or partial ripeness, the desired stage can be determined by taste and appearance.