Sea Buckthorn Berries Harvest & Preserves
September was a busy time for us in preparing for the winter planting after the summer holiday break and harvest season of Fall Garden . Sea buck thorn berries was one of the first on the list of September harvests in addition to some butternut squash and the remaining summer vegetables. As a result of the good harvest we had, I had to find a quick way to preserve them.
Due to lack of time we decided to make them into jams. I will get to that in the second half of this blog post.
Table of Contents
What are Sea Buckthorn Berries?
These berries are also called as Sandthorn or Sallowthorn. The German word is Sanddorn. These common shrubs have dense and stiff branches and are very thorny. The leaves on these shrubs are a distinct pale silvery-green color.
“The buckthorn berry plants are dioecious with separate male and female plants. The males produce brownish flowers which produce wind distributed pollen to the female plants. The female plants as a result of the pollination produce orange berries which are oval and are about 6 -9 mm in diameter. The sea buck thorn berries are soft, juicy and rich in oils.”
More information about the sea buckthorn berries and shrubs can be found in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippophae
Harvesting Tips
For harvesting the berries you will need a good pair of thick gardening gloves as the branches are laden with thick and sharp thorns and a good pair of very sharp shrub cutter. Cut the branches with the berries. Then carefully pick the berries from the branches for use.
Uses of Sandthorn Berries
These berries are made into jams, teas, liquors and cosmetics. I have personally bought hand creams, and body lotions made out of sandthorn berries. Because I had very little time to try out other ways to preserve these berries, I choose to go for the easiest and fool proof option. I made a jam out of it. The jam would make an ideal Christmas present since I love giving gifts made personally by me.
Check out also my post on Top 10 Sea Buckthorn Recipes.
How to make Sea Buckthorn Berry Jam?
Ingredients List
- 1000g of Buckthorn berries
- 500g of pectin sugar
- 75 ml of water.
- Clean sterilized glass jars
Cooking Instructions
- Add the water to the berries and cook the berries till soft and the skin starts to crack.
- Mash the berries using a sieve or a food mill. You can also use the puree attachment of your mixer.
- Add the sugar to the fruit puree and cook it down to thicken the jelly. This takes about 20 min.
- To test if its ready for bottling , drop a few drops on to a plate and tilt it. If the jelly is still flowing when the plate is tilted, therefore its not yet ready for the bottling process.
- Repeat this process till the jelly stops flowing and fill into sterilized jars immediately. Close the lids tightly.
Watch the Video
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Thanks for linking my recipe.
Hi. How long would you say the ham lasts. We have so many of these by the beach near us and would love to give as Christmas presents.
jam. 🤷♀️
Yes, I understood it. Enjoy making it. We will soon harvest our bushes.
In our home they last a year. You can easily give it as Christmas presents since you will make it in now. If done in sterile conditions they last longer than a year too.
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