Sea buckthorn berries ripening
Photo: Arne Ader
Translation: Liis
Sea buckthorn berries
Sea buckthorn Astelpaju Hippophae rhamnoides
Plantations of cultivated sea buckthorn colour our landscapes at roadsides.
The fruit of sea buckthorn, a drupe, is oval-shaped, yellow to orange-red in colour. The fruits are attached by short stalks, strongly and tightly to the branches - only to the previous year’s ones. Fruits begin to ripen in mid-August. Harvesting is actually the most difficult task and wants both time and patience. It is not worth delaying the picking. The fruits will not drop off from the shrub but when over-ripe they get crushed by the picker’s fingers and lose their value.
The shrubs begin to bear fruit at three-four years old and will produce a harvest for as long. From a mature shrub we can get more than ten kilos of fruits.
Birds prefer fully ripe fruits and so they will not compete with pickers who are in time.
Much has been written about the medical properties of the sea buckthorn: