Green Rosie
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When to pick hawthorn berries?The haws around here are beginning to turn red and I was wondering if there was an optimum time to pick them. I'm thinking about making Hawthorn Ketchup (from the River Cottage Preserves book).
Does anyone else have any recipes for them that might be worth trying? There's so many round here it seems a pity to waste them.
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wildfoodie
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There is indeed an optimum time for picking, and its a very small window! You can't tell by just looking, its the quality of the flesh that's important. Haws are at their best when the flesh is smooth and creamy like an avocado, in no time it goes dry and mealy with a grittier texture.
the berries do go a duller red when they're over ripe but it's not easy to tell. I have made fairly successful fruit pulps and jellies from older berries ( before I realised the difference, ) so it won't be a disaster if you miss the window!
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Green Rosie
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Thank you Wildfoodie - that might explain why the ketchup I made a year or so ago wasn't nice; I think I had missed the window 
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hedgehogpie
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Squidge one between finger and thumb and nibble the pulp to test for ripeness.
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Ipso-phyto
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Eating them regularly through the season helps you become acquainted with best times. As ever, its site specific for ripeness times. The further up hill from sea level, the longer to wait, similar to the further north, the longer the wait.
Apparantly, plants on south facing slopes of only 5 degrees receive extra solar radiation on their canopy to the equivlent of moving 400 miles south.
The flesh of hawthorn is still greenish when unripe, turning a creamy yellow when mature.
This superfood helps keep my blood pressure down...kicks the pants off goji berries in terms of anti-oxidants and is a general cardiac tonic par excellance working on the heat muscle itself as well as on the arterial walls...for free! Massively undereated food/medicine here in Britain IMO
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bubble
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Eating them regularly through the season helps you become acquainted with best times. As ever, its site specific for ripeness times. The further up hill from sea level, the longer to wait, similar to the further north, the longer the wait.
Apparantly, plants on south facing slopes of only 5 degrees receive extra solar radiation on their canopy to the equivlent of moving 400 miles south.
The flesh of hawthorn is still greenish when unripe, turning a creamy yellow when mature.
This superfood helps keep my blood pressure down...kicks the pants off goji berries in terms of anti-oxidants and is a general cardiac tonic par excellance working on the heat muscle itself as well as on the arterial walls...for free! Massively undereated food/medicine here in Britain IMO |
