In Russia, there are many berries, as they say, for every taste. But in order to harvest a good harvest of berries, eat them in plenty fresh or prepare for future use, you need to know where they grow, at what time they ripen.
Perhaps the most fragrant wild berry is wild strawberry. It has excellent taste and makes an excellent jam. Strawberries grow in abundance on the edges of birch, mixed and coniferous forests, in glades and slopes, preferring a fairly dry sod-podzolic soil. It is also found in the forest between trees, but much less often, because it loves lighting. It does not tolerate excessive moisture at all, therefore it does not grow in swamps.
The ripening time of forest strawberries depends on the specific climatic conditions of a particular area. On most of the European territory of Russia, you can start collecting it from the first ten days of June, the collection usually lasts two to three weeks.
Cranberries, on the other hand, feel great in swamps, which is why they are harvested there. This dark red sour berry has a lot of advantages: it contains a lot of vitamins (especially vitamin C), other useful substances, its decoctions have a tonic and antipyretic effect. The famous cranberry juice is very tasty. Cranberries are harvested from mid September to early October.
Lingonberry is a smaller, dense burgundy-red berry, often with a white barrel. This is a very healthy berry. A decoction of lingonberry leaves is good for kidney disease, berries are beneficial for rheumatism, tuberculosis. Soaked lingonberry is a great side dish for meat, poultry, fish. Due to the high concentration of a natural preservative - benzoic acid - this berry does not spoil for a long time. Collect it from the second half of August to early September in coniferous forests and peat bogs.
Blueberries are also extremely useful. It is eaten fresh, grated with sugar, jams and jelly are cooked from it. It has a beneficial effect on vision, eliminates disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the oral cavity. Blueberries grow in coniferous forests, peat bogs, sometimes on mountain slopes; they are harvested in July-August.
Of course, we must not forget about forest raspberries. Although its berries are smaller than the garden berry, they are also tasty and aromatic. Raspberries have antipyretic effects, normalize metabolism. In many regions of Siberia, forest raspberries are long and very dense. Therefore, the locals, picking berries, talk loudly, from time to time knock on metal objects: both in order not to lose each other, and to scare off the bear, which also loves to feast on this fragrant berry. The dates for harvesting forest raspberries fall at the end of July - beginning of August.
