seabuckthorn

[old tree man]

A friend of mine today gave me a ring and said he had loads of bushes and stuff he wanted rid of because he was tarmacking the waste ground around his industrial unit and he knew i was into green stuff so i went down and lo and behold it was full of wild roses sea buckthorn and alder so i said to him can he wait untill the leaves drop so i can dig them up then, no problem he said, so great, free bushes and a couple of trees for my new garden i think there must be at least 40 seabuckthorn, 10 wild rugosa, and a couple of alder, i dont think i can use them all but i'll get fill my garden up, if anyone is local to me you are welcome to come and share them with me.

[Ellendra]

Wow, now I really wish I lived closer!

[southeast-isher]

this sounds a fantasic plant... i want so see one

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea-buckthorn

[GeorgeSalt]

Bumping this..

Nipped into Lituanica this afternoon, which is to the typical Eastern European corner shop what T***o is to Arkwrights, and they had bags of frozen sea buckthorn. This is a species I've been wanting to try for a while, but the only patch I know locally is on a nature reserve - and the cut and freeze method of harvesting that's always recomended is rather destructive.

I think a go at a small batch of cordial is in order tomorrow, the recipes we've found sound very sililar to by usual elderberry cordial recipe so I'll treat it the same and go with that.

[oldjerry]

How near the coast are you? We used this plant all the time when we put coastal gardens together in West Cornwall(back in the day),because of it's ability to withstand salt winds(not sure about frost resistance though,to be honest). As such it's readily available down there,and pretty cheap,pm me if you need some sources. I've still got a few contacts there.
Didn't know you could eat the berries, or do there Poles just stick them in vodka? Great plant,keeps undesirables off yer property as well!

[Maykal]

It's frequently used here to make a kind of syrup and is supposed to be packed with vit C. Considering the harshness of the winter here, I imagine it's pretty frost resistant.

[GeorgeSalt]

How near the coast are you? We used this plant all the time when we put coastal gardens together in West Cornwall(back in the day),because of it's ability to withstand salt winds(not sure about frost resistance though,to be honest). As such it's readily available down there,and pretty cheap,pm me if you need some sources. I've still got a few contacts there.
Didn't know you could eat the berries, or do there Poles just stick them in vodka? Great plant,keeps undesirables off yer property as well!

The berries are *very* popular as a healthy food in Europe - watching German tv a few months ago we came across a woman who was championing them and growing a small plantation. In China it's also popular (something like 1.5m hectares of plantations). Growing them here wouldn't be a problem - finding the space might be. Getting them frozen is a very quick way of testing whether it will be worth making the space for them. Or sneaking them onto waste ground.

Salt and wind resistance seem to be their strong points.

[GeorgeSalt]

And very nice it is too..

900 g sea buckthorn gave 900 ml juice when simmered with just enough water to cover them in the pan. Strained, 900g sugar added and the total yield was 1500 ml of cordial/syrup.

Diluted with fizzy water it's a refreshing drink, and it promises to be a tasty syrup over yoghurt or ice cream.


I'm already harbouring designs along the lines of 700 ml of the syrup, <to be calculated> sugar, tannin (but no acid), and make up to the gallon with white grape juice for a 2-step cordial wine along the same lines as my elderberry recipe..

[GeorgeSalt]

I retrieved some of the seeds from the frozen fruit before making the cordial, and they were sown in some damp vermiculite on a windowsill. I noticed today that about 1/2-a-dozen have germinated.

I might not have the spuds in the ground yet (might get them in at the weekend), but I now have sea buckthorn and medjool dates germinating and growing nicely on the windowsills..

[Skippy]

This plant came up on a programme a few weeks ago (BBC I think but no idea of which programme) and was the topic of the spread of plants in the UK . As has been said it is a costal plant but it appears to be migrating along our road system owing primarily to the use of salt on the roads in the winter. The presenter was looking a huge swath of seabuckthorn on the divide on a temporaily closed motorway. Mind , between the hazards of traffic and pollution I wouldn't be too kean on picking it from there.


Pete

[GeorgeSalt]

I've discovered that a group at UEA is researching them as a possible crop for the UK, not sure what there is to research as it's commercially grown in Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, and in China the scale that it's grown on is incredible. It's rather tasty, almost tropical in flavour, and once you try it you'll want more.

[GeorgeSalt]

Todays recipe..

900 g frozen sea buckthorn berries
300 g sugar
1 litre gin
1x vanilla pod

Now to leave it alone for seven or eight weeks, except for the occasional shake.