The first harvest occurs on average at the end of June. The greatest amount of useful microelements is contained in the first fruits, the subsequent fruits are collected directly for freezing and long-term storage. The fact that the berry is ready for harvest will be indicated by the color of the berry, the aroma and its taste.
The second harvest comes in mid-July. It is very important to pick berries on time, because an early harvest does not have all the useful properties, and when harvested late, the berry shrinks and quickly deteriorates.
The blueberry harvest this year will be much lower than in previous years, the weather conditions are to blame. Blueberries do not tolerate cold well, and their flowering period promises to be cool.
The berry has a very large amount useful properties. It contains many trace elements, vitamins (C, K, E, B vitamins, including the rare vitamin B4 responsible for the functioning of the liver), ascorbic acid, strong, zinc, manganese, and iron. Berries also contain macronutrients such as calcium, potassium, sodium, chlorine and many others. Due to the high content of calcium, it is recommended to expectant mothers, as blueberries will perfectly form the skeletal system of a child in the womb. It contains lactic, pantothenic and succinic acids, necessary for the human body to cleanse the intestines.
It is worth noting that blueberries are nutritious with sugar and water. The use of this berry is useful even for people suffering from diabetes. Dried blueberry leaves in the form of a decoction perfectly support the normal blood sugar content of diabetics, reduce headaches, serve as an excellent dietary product. Due to its high fiber content, the berry suppresses appetite and contains a small amount of calories.
Blueberries have antioxidant properties, remove toxins from the human body. It perfectly tightens various wounds, treats skin diseases.
Blueberries are useful not only for their berries, but also for foliage. More often it is dried and prepared decoctions and tinctures. Blueberries are used for diseases such as acute respiratory infections and tonsillitis. Blueberries increase the immunity of the human body, it is often used to prevent tumors. The berry has anti-inflammatory properties of the gallbladder and genitourinary system, kidneys.
Rules for harvesting blueberries in Belarus in 2019
Starting this year, when harvesting blueberries in the forests of Belarus, it should be taken into account that the decree on the tax cost of harvesting forests has come into force. For one kilogram 
for these blueberries, you will have to pay 22 kopecks. The resolution has not been finalized, because the Ministry of Forests is still considering amendments and additions. The tax will be imposed on the group of persons who plan to harvest on an especially large scale. People who collect berries in small quantities for personal use will not be affected by taxation.
Collection rules:
- Never pick berries near factories or highways to eliminate the risk of poisoning.
- Do not pick unripe berries - these are not tomatoes, they will not ripen.
- When harvesting, do not use piercing and cutting objects that can harm the berries and the bush itself - this will reduce its yield in the future.
- Start from the aerial part and gradually rise higher to the crown.
- Collect blueberries in a basket or basket to keep them intact.
- Fresh berries should be stored only in the shade, avoiding direct sunlight.
Talk about the fact that blueberries improve vision has not been fully studied, here the opinion of doctors differs. Yes, blueberries support vision, but whether it restores is still unknown. With tired eyes, it is useful to eat a handful of berries, because they will improve the microcirculation of the retina, strengthen the capillaries of the eyes, enhance clarity and visual acuity.
10.07.2017 - 21:57
News of Belarus. The season of “silent hunting” has started in Belarus. Despite the cool spring, scientists predict bountiful harvest porcini mushrooms and aspen mushrooms, the 24 Hours News program on STV reported.
But blueberries in the forest in 2017 than in the previous season. How will this affect prices?
Petr Butrim, STV:
Blueberry picking season is in full swing. This is noticeable mostly in the south of Belarus. Here, in the Malorita district, there are the most truly berry places. Finding a delicious meadow is not difficult even for an inexperienced berry picker.
And although the harvest in 2016 is not as generous as last summer,
for a useful wild berry, people still get out. For example, Anatoly Chernik owes her not only a surname, but also a penny that is not superfluous to his pension.
Anatoly Chernik, resident of Malorita:
Well, so, we collect a little in a bucket, five liters each.
And that's good, help in the economy.
Knows berry places even in not the most berry year and his countrywoman Victoria Golovchik. In the forest, the future economist finds his profit, and therefore, on vacation, together with his younger sister, he visits there three times a week.
Victoria Golovchik, a resident of Malorita:
From twelve to six or seven, when I do, I gain about 10-13 liters.
Not dormant in the middle of summer and the harvester. In 2016, the local food retailer shipped about 40 tons of black berries to the Samara region alone. In total, twice as much was prepared.
Alena Churbanova, Head of the Procurement Sector of the Malorita Raipo:
We have procurers - 15 people.
Mass procurement has not yet begun much, everything is ahead.
And at this enterprise, healthy blueberries are added to every fifth jar baby food, providing more than half of our market, as well as sending to Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Estonia.
Lyudmila Voznosimenko, Deputy Director of the Malorita Canning Vegetable Drying Plant:
Blueberry puree, blueberry puree with milk cream, blueberry nectar, blueberry apple. This is a very tasty assortment for children, raises immunity. Very good for eyes.
If blueberries are accepted here for three rubles, then the price on the market is much higher. After weather anomalies, picking a berry is not so easy, which is why they are reluctant to part with it.
Salesman:
6, 5 - the peak. Now it's 4. It's already been offered for 3.50, but we're not giving it back yet.
And yet there are quite a lot of those who are ready to part with the ruble for vitamins.
The price of blueberries today is also in the city markets, but the trade is brisk. Indeed, on the table of a Belarusian in July, it is perhaps the most long-awaited product. And the season lasts only four weeks.
Substrates for seedlings: what types are there
Anna Pashkevich, head of the sector of leguminous vegetables, RUE "Institute of Vegetable Growing":
Today I would like to talk to you about substrates and natural soil. It is known that the successful cultivation of vegetables and herbs depends on many components, but first of all, on the right substrate. First, I would like to say a few words about natural soils or natural ones that are in the agricultural landscape, in nature, they have a lot of advantages, but they also have their drawbacks.
As you know, natural soil is rich in organic structures, microorganisms, various horizons. But when we transfer it to an artificial condition, its longer operation becomes impossible.
Moreover, when we begin to water natural soils, they become less suitable for growing plants, they become compacted, air exchange is disturbed, so their physical properties, in particular porosity, are lost. Therefore, the search for new substrates and the improvement of existing ones are constantly underway.
From Latin "substratum» - the foundation. The substrate is a mixture of natural and artificial components suitable for plant growth and development.
Substrates must have special characteristics. They must be porous, moisture-absorbing, water-retaining, not interfere with air and water exchange.
Substrates are divided into three groups. The first and most common is organic substrates. These include in particular: peat,coconut, which can be represented by coconut dust, coconut chips or sold already in ready-made coconut briquettes.
Also organic substrates include sawdust and coconut bark.
Recently, mineral substrates have gained wide popularity, in particular, they include zeolites, and they can be in different fractions.
But the most successful– zeolites from fraction 1-15. Also substrates such as perlite, vermiculite. In addition, various fractions of expanded clay are used as an additional substrate.
The third group includes organomineral, which include the characteristics of both organic and mineral substrates.
Be smart when writing own recipe your substrate.
- Read more
There are not so many blueberries in the markets of Gomel now, but beautiful wild berries have already appeared in the malls.
A sixty-year-old resident of the regional center, who introduced herself as Tatyana Nikolaevna, was the first to bring blueberries to the mini-market on Kozhara Street. For a two-hundred-gram glass of berries he asks for 2 rubles.
“There are far fewer blueberries this year than even last year. And they are small. There were frosts in May. The orchards were seized, and the blueberries, apparently, got it - the berries were also blooming at that time. Collected in the forest near the railway stop "Chanterelles" - this is in the direction of Chernihiv.
The woman says that she walked through the forest for about six hours until she collected a 5-liter bucket. Forced to collect even small blueberries and take them to the market, as "It's still a long time to wait for a pension - it's in the middle of the month."
“Yes, what kind of pension is 250 rubles, - Tatyana complains. - I worked as a dispatcher at Gomeloblavtotrans, they classified us as employees and determined such a pension. Until I wait for her, then, maybe, at least I will earn bread and milk on berries.
Tatyana Nikolaevna herself and her neighbor on the sales counter praise blueberries: they are supposedly good for vision, digestion, and the cardiovascular system.
I agree with the disclaimer: "This is when blueberries are without radiation."
"I checked, 32 units, and the norm is 185",- says the berry picker.
On the label of the laboratory of the Aerodrom mini-market, which refers to the city veterinary station, it is really written: “Norm 185 Bq / kg”. Correct spelling: the allowable level is 185 becquerels per kilogram, not the norm. Otherwise, it looks like there is allegedly not enough radiation in blueberries.
At the station market wild berries trades villager Anatoly from the village of Kravtsovka. His berries are cheaper: for a glass - 1 ruble 50 kopecks.
He doesn't want to show the label for checking blueberries for radiation, he even gets angry: "What for? They said it was normal."
The villager also goes to the forest to get some kind of pension increase. Anatoly has even less - only 200 rubles. The interlocutor worked at the Sozh plant as a disinfector.
"This is our life, the villager says although some people think that pensioners are better off.”
At the Central Market, blueberries are sold in three places. The price is the same for everyone: a glass - 2 rubles. Many buyers come up, ask for a price and leave. Expensive.
Peter and his wife sell both strawberries and blueberries:
“We collected it in the forest outside the village of Pribor, checked it for radiation, you can sell it. People take on dumplings or just feast on. The price may be high, but there are few blueberries in the forest. Consider this the first. There will be more blueberries, prices will fall - this is the law of the market.”
Three decades after Chernobyl, the inhabitants of the region began to be more sensitive to berries and mushrooms. At least in the markets they try not to buy "gifts of the forest" that have not been tested in the laboratory.
"I like blueberries- says the townsman Igor. - If I see that they are proven, I buy. I don’t take untested ones so as not to “glow” from radiation. We still have a lot of places where it’s not worth going, let alone collecting something for the table.”
Blueberry picking season is in full swing. Experienced berry growers boast: every summer they take it out of the forest in buckets and earn decently on the sale. Some repay the loan for berry earnings, others go to the seas, and still others manage to collect for their children to study at the university. The R correspondent left her comfortable office and went to the forest: she found out how many blueberries can be harvested in a day, how much a berry is now, and whether it is easy to get rich in such a business.
Berry to berry
Experienced buttocks assure that they know the local forest like the back of their hand. Indeed, after a couple of minutes we chose a clearing rich in the treasured berry.
Author's photo
In the forests of the Shchuchinsky region, as well as in Polissya, there are many "blueberry barons". You go into the forest in the morning with the first roosters, and they are already dragging several buckets of berries on a bicycle. Rest and fight again. The locals teach me, a beginner, to go for wild plants as early as possible, otherwise everyone will be chosen - only twigs with leaves will remain.
The alarm clock rings at 4.30. We leave in half an hour, not later: it is very hard to work under the scorching sun. Lyudmila and Galina kindly agree to become my guides - experienced buttocks assure that they know these places like the back of their hand. Indeed, after a couple of minutes we chose a clearing rich in the treasured berry. While I rejoice with joy, my colleagues lament - the harvest is modest, but richer than last season:
In 2017, blueberries froze, and in this dry weather did not allow the berries to pour enough juice - the forest does not indulge again. But there are still berries, if you know the place.
And we find the right clearings easily: in a couple of hours I fill my three-liter can. The interlocutors are pulling ahead - they already have 5 kg of blueberries! Sports interest makes me work faster, but with a prerequisite: to pick the berries only by hand. There are several reasons: if you use a special harvester - you can get a serious fine, and also a scoop for picking berries can destroy a bush - next season it will be bald and dry. However, neither one nor the other scares the woman who comes our way. She continues the lightning-fast "harvest" of blueberries and explains:
While you are neatly folding the berry to the berry, I will clean the bush in five seconds!
We decide not to follow a bad example. At a normal pace, each of us collects about 1.5 kg of berries in 1 hour. We work with short breaks for almost the whole day - each has 15 kg. Fatigue takes its toll. Resolved: turn around.
Now there are a lot of blueberries in the seasonal markets. Sellers compete, but prices are not in a hurry to reduce. On average, a black berry costs 6.5 rubles per liter.
Road is more expensiveBlueberries appeared not only in the forests, but also in the markets. I'm going to explore: to find out how much a black berry is now. At the counters, the mood is improving: the price tags are normal, which means that the “hunchback” was not in vain. For 1 kg of wild plants, sellers ask for an average of 6.5 rubles. I strike up a conversation with an avid buttock who, in addition to buckets of blueberries, is given out by burgundy fingers on his hands. Teresa, as she appears, is often chosen for berry plantations:
First, I collect blueberries for myself: for jam, compotes and freezing for all family members. When stocks for the winter replenished, I collect for sale. With my daughter, we usually collect two buckets of 8 kg. It is more profitable to stand on the market, but you can also sell a berry.
Sellers are divided: blueberries are accepted by both raipo stores and home purveyors, private traders. The purchase price on average ranges from 3 to 4 rubles per 1 kg. It turns out that theoretically for 15 kg of berries I can get 52 rubles or more. So we decide to do with my forest prey - literally in 15 minutes I find my buyer. It was not difficult: during the season, announcements about picking berries in the countryside are pasted on almost every pole and fence. You choose a profitable money offer and go there with buckets.
Lyudmila, with whom I picked an equal number of berries in a day, decides to sell them on the market. It didn't take long to go through the analysis and book a place. But it required money: for a radiation test, she gave half a liter of berries and almost 3 rubles, the counter on the popular row cost 4 rubles.
Come try it for free! - unexpectedly for me, a colleague shouted to the whole market. - Buy it, you won't regret it! Only a kind word will be remembered!
In general, he trades skillfully - people stop at our counter, are interested in the price. Half-liter cups of blueberries for 3 rubles were snapped up the fastest. But by the end of the day they were gone liter cans- one was sold for 6, the other for 7 rubles.
They did not get rich, but they earned decently, - we conclude by calculating the profit. - If we subtract the costs of organizing a market place, 90 rubles per 15 kg of berries come out clean.
You haven't earned much yet, newcomers, - the seller at the next counter grins. She sells raspberries, but she knows all the subtleties about blueberries. - I have a friend who earns up to 4 thousand rubles during the berry season. True, he is cunning: he picks berries with a combine harvester, collects from 20 kg per day in such a barbaric way.
During the experiment, I briefly felt like a businessman, but there is little joy from such revenue: I worked for ten hours, and now I just want to lie down and relax. For the sake of interest, I found out how much profit that day was received by a woman who harvested blueberries with a combine. In just half a day, she collected 15 kg of berries and sold them near the highway - she received 120 rubles in profit.
To trade the gifts of the forest in the market, you need to have a certificate of passed fluorography, pass blueberries for analysis (it does not take much time), after which you can rent a counter.
mushroom themeDespite the complaints of many berry growers about the poor harvest, scientists are not so pessimistic. The situation with the gifts of nature is commented by Tatyana Moiseeva, researcher at the Forest Institute National Academy Sciences:
There are no disasters this year. Last season, things were much worse: due to frosts, blueberries did not have time to bloom and set fruits. This spring has been warm. Then the drought gave way to heavy rains. In many districts of the Minsk and Grodno regions for the first half of July, a monthly rainfall fell, and in the Brest region - almost two monthly norms. There are blueberries in our forests, but you will not find a good harvest everywhere. Large berries can be found in swampy areas, in a pine forest the berries are smaller. Warm rainy weather was in the country this week as well.
Tatyana Moiseeva notes: if not for the long-awaited downpours, the blueberry bushes would dry up.
Yes, and cranberries could turn yellow and leave us without a crop. But the weather was kind - there should be a lot of these berries. The same with lingonberries. True, in recent years this berry is more common in the northern part of the country. There are very few lingonberries in the Gomel region.
Those who actively earn on the gifts of the forest may not worry about the mushroom harvest. There were heavy rains, the soil was well wetted. If this continues, mushroom pickers will rejoice in August and September. Tatyana Moiseeva is reassuring: already now in the forests there are porcini mushrooms, boletus, boletus, chanterelles, russula, summer mushrooms. According to forecasts, there will be a lot of mushrooms in autumn. So, the market price will not go off scale. By the way, today in the popular Minsk seasonal market, a kilogram of blueberries costs 6-7 rubles, wild blueberries - 8-9 rubles, a bucket of chanterelles and boletuses - 12 and 10 rubles, respectively.
The specialists of the Ministry of Forestry and scientists spoke about the culture of collecting forest gifts.
Recently, the editorial office received an anonymous appeal from readers:
« In the countryside, people have always survived on land and forests. For example, harvesting blueberries is hard work. People work from 5 am until late at night in the forest. For some, this is the only source of livelihood, for others it is an additional addition to the family budget. But then there were some rules for collecting wild mushrooms and berries. In most cases, we collect blueberries with the help of combs, so people are fined for this. But these methods were collected by our grandfathers, fathers, and now we are. Blueberry from this did not become less. On the contrary, after you comb it, it grows even better. But some scientist, without leaving Minsk, drew up these collection rules. For some reason, in other countries, collecting a comb is legal. Some recommend cutting mushrooms, while others recommend picking them. When cutting, the remaining root rots and the entire mycelium deteriorates, and when you pluck it, the mycelium is also broken. Who is right in this case? Please provide assistance in revising the rules for collecting wild mushrooms and berries for large cities and for rural areas».
To understand the situation, the portal site turned to specialists for clarification.
collect by law
According to the Ministry of Forestry, up to 50,000 tons of berries and fruits and about 60,000 tons of edible mushrooms grow in Belarusian forests annually. Their collection is regulated by the Forest Code of Belarus. By the way, the new version of this document came into force on December 31, 2016. According to Article 44, citizens have the right to freely be in the territory of the forest fund and, without permits, collect wild berries, mushrooms, fruits, nuts and other forest resources (except for wood) for their own needs free of charge. The exception is those areas where the collection of forest gifts is prohibited by law.
There are no time limits: when they appear, you can go to the forest. The dates for the beginning of the collection are annually set only for lingonberries and cranberries and are regulated by decisions of the regional executive committees. Information about this is freely available on the official websites of the executive committees, published in the media, etc.
The leaders in the resources of fruit and berry plants in Belarus are Minsk (28%) and Gomel (26%) regions. In general, in the country, the largest reserves were noted for blueberries (33 thousand tons) and cranberries (11.2 thousand tons). We have the least mountain ash (1.1 thousand tons) and blueberries (1.3 thousand tons).
The most economically significant today are blueberries, cranberries, blueberries and lingonberries. By the way, the first two berries are in the lead in terms of harvesting volumes - up to 5 thousand and 1 thousand tons annually. In addition, people collect wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, stone fruits and some other berries.
There are more than 200 species of edible mushrooms in Belarusian forests. It is legally allowed to collect more than 50 of them. But in fact, less than 20 species are harvested, including porcini, real chanterelle, boletus, boletus, butterdish, camelina, yellow breast, black breast, pink wave.
“The most important thing to remember is that you can collect wild berries only in ways that do not harm berry growers and do not lead to their destruction,” the Ministry of Forestry noted. - If special devices are used for this, they must comply with the mandatory requirements established by technical regulatory legal acts in the field of technical regulation and standardization. And mushroom pickers are forbidden to rake the forest litter.
You can't comb blueberries with a comb
In the world, the issue of using various devices for collecting forest gifts is approached differently.
“For example, in the Scandinavian countries, and in particular in Finland, collection with combs is allowed. True, those that are approved for industrial use, - said Associate Professor of the Department of Tourism, Nature Management and Game Science of BSTU, Candidate of Biological Sciences Yadviga Shaporova. “In Lithuania, the use of such devices is also allowed, but in Latvia it is no longer.”
In many respects, everything depends on the stocks available in the country and the collection culture. For example, in the same Finland, during the season, the forests are black from the abundance of blueberries. For the industrial harvesting of such a quantity of berries, even seasonal workers are invited from other countries, including Belarus. And the comb in this case is an ordinary working tool. Moreover, for in the forest and on the household plot ( and in Finland blueberries and lingonberries are cultivated in large quantities. - Note. ed.) different devices are used.
We have the same volume of berries at times less. According to Yadviga Shaporova, in the 1990s, due to the continuous use of combs, some Belarusian forests were bare. As a result, an ecological desert formed there for several years.
“I remember these blueberries, which stood without foliage at all. And all because combs of homemade handicraft were used. The berries were taken inaccurately, pulling out the plant right with the roots, - the specialist added. - It is worth recognizing that our people do not have a careful attitude to nature. In Europe, though with combs, they are harvested carefully, holding each plant.”
Scientists explain: only certified combs and other devices can be safely used in natural conditions. In Belarus, the specialist has not yet met a single organization that would sell certified goods of this kind. Although there are specialists in the country who could carry out certification, there are no orders for this service. The question may arise: why is it impossible to sell Russian or Finnish combs here? And here, again, everything is determined by the difference in berry resources.
“As for the positive effect of “combing” blueberries with a comb, this is not true. The problem with this collection method is that it damages the buds of renewal, from which new shoots appear, - explained Yadviga Aleksandrovna. “It is best to take the berry by hand, but carefully, without damaging the plant.”
On a "silent hunt" - with a knife
Mushrooms can be harvested in two ways: cut and twisted. The main thing is not to damage the mycelium. So don't pull too hard on the mushroom, break the integrity of the forest floor, i.e. rake it with your feet or a rake. Due to changes in the thermo- and hydro-mode, the mycelium may die.
“Especially often I watched people go to the forest with a rake for chanterelles. Having collected everything that is noticeable, people opened the litter and chose very small chanterelles, - said Yadviga Shaporova. “Therefore, the Institute of Experimental Botany of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus prepared proposals, and the Ministry of Natural Resources adopted relevant recommendations that chanterelles with a hat of at least 2 cm should be collected. Such a mushroom is already visible on the forest floor, and it will not have to be raked.”
In practice, people often go on a "silent hunt" with a knife. Not everyone can properly unscrew the mushroom. But the opinion that the part of the leg remaining after cutting begins to rot and leads to damage to the mycelium is erroneous.
Irina YANUSHKEVICH
Photo by Vitaly Gil
