Birch sap, or birch tree, as it is popularly called, has long been famous for its healing properties is an environmentally friendly, tasty, healing, refreshing soft drink. The healing secret is that in the spring the birch splashes into the leaves all the vitality that it accumulated during the winter.
When is birch sap harvested?
Birch sap is collected until the sticky leaves have blossomed (about a month before the appearance of leaves and flowering, during the period of snow melting), sap flow begins at birch trees, called “birch weeping”. Within 15-20 days, the birch gives us its sweet juice.
How to extract birch sap?
Option 1: Hole in the barrel
If you delve into the library or the Internet, looking for the rules for collecting birch sap, then general recommendations will relate to something like the following. The sap should be collected (specialists call the targeted extraction of birch sap tapping) from mature trees with a well-developed crown and a trunk of at least 30 cm in diameter. At the same time, a small hole (channels) with a diameter of up to 2 cm is drilled in the bark, depending on the diameter of the tree, from one to four holes are made on it, and a tube or tin tongue is removed from it, through which birch sap enters a dish attached to a wire or rope.
Important! At the end of the collection of birch sap, the wound is closed with a wooden cork and sealed garden pitch, wax, clay or plasticine. This is necessary in order to prevent pathogens from entering through the notch, which can cause the death of the tree.
That's just the method of collecting birch sap, which is described everywhere, we almost never used. Firstly, it is quite problematic to make the juice flow only through a tube or a tin chute, often most of it flows down the trunk. Secondly, it is not always possible to attach a bottle or jar in such a way that the drops get inside, and if this is possible, then often, when a little juice is collected in the dishes, it shifts under its weight, and the birch sap no longer gets into the neck. Thirdly, you have to make a triangular tongue of birch bark under the hole, thanks to which you can avoid the loss of juice, and traces of these actions remain for a long time, if not forever, disfiguring slender white-trunked birch trees.
Moreover, if you follow the instructions and drill a hole no larger than 2 cm, then in a couple of days the birch sap will flow much more slowly than at the beginning of the damage. And there are two ways out: either increase the hole in diameter, or make a new one. Both of them seemed undesirable to us, so this method was not popular with us. Sometimes I had to meet in the birch forest belts bottles suspended on the trunk, and above them there were several old and fresh holes or, even worse, deep notches with an axe. Unfortunately, this is exactly what the recommendations in the literature look like in practice.
Collection of birch sap. © Audrey Kletscher Helbling Option 2: Collecting birch sap from a branch
Having rejected the most inconvenient, destructive and, in our opinion, not aesthetic method, we collected birch sap in a different way. They chose a suitable branch, about a finger thick or a little more, but not extending directly from the trunk at an upward angle, but from a thicker branch or almost horizontally. Then they made an oblique cut and pushed a branch into the neck of a one and a half liter or liter bottle, depending on the intensity of sap flow. Fastening the bottle to a branch with a wire was not a big pile. Sometimes suitable branches were located at a great distance from the ground, and we had to climb a tree. This made the birch sap even sweeter. However, perhaps this is due to the fact that he went a long way along the trunk and absorbed more glucose and fructose - sugars that determine the sweet taste of a healing drink.
It was also an inviolable rule that we put one bottle or, at most, two on one tree. This ensured both the stability of sap flow throughout the entire period and the limitation of injuries of some of the most “sweet” trees. The latter most often stood separately on some hillock well warmed by the sun. In some places there was still snow, and the birch trees were just beginning to move away from their winter sleep, and here birch sap was already running at full speed. We tried not to touch young birch trees, but preferred mature mature trees.
It is better not to collect juice near towns and villages. Do not once again endanger the trees already exhausted by the attention of people. In addition, the sap flow here was always late, rather sluggish and short-lived. And the sap of a tree growing near a busy highway or in an industrial zone of the city, in general, instead of benefit, will only bring harm.
And yet, the amount of birch sap collection is influenced by a number of factors: latitude, type of forest, weather in summer and winter before the tapping and during the tapping period, the hours of the day, the fullness of the forest stand, the degree of tree dominance.
Collection of birch sap. © Minnesotastan The benefits of birch sap
For medicinal purposes, two types of birch are more often used - drooping and sprawling. Their buds, leaves, juice, ash ( Activated carbon), tar obtained by dry distillation of wood, xylitol (a sugar substitute for diabetics, obtained from wood waste) - all this is widely used in medicine. Birch sap contains 0.5 - 2% sugar, it contains enzymes, organic acids, tannins, calcium, potassium, iron salts, plant hormones, glucose and substances with high antimicrobial activity (phytoncides).
Every year a person should consume at least 6 liters of birch sap. This healing drink destroys urinary stones, is effective in treating stomach and liver ulcers, headaches, bronchitis, coughs, helps with rheumatism, radiculitis, arthritis. In addition, birch sap cleanses the blood, has a regenerating effect, stimulates metabolism, and is also an excellent dietary and refreshing drink. The systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. Doctors say that if you drink at least a glass of juice a day, drowsiness, tiredness, and irritability will disappear. In general, drinking birch sap in its pure form is a pleasure. It is a pleasant, refreshing and strengthening drink.
Collection of birch sap. © Carol Byrne How to prepare birch sap for good?
For 1 liter of birch sap add 125 g of sugar and 5 g citric acid. Then filtered, poured into jars, pasteurized and twisted with lids. It is useful to mix birch sap with other juices from fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as to infuse it on mint leaves, lemon balm, thyme, St. John's wort, lime blossom, rose hips, lingonberries.
birch kvass
AT oak barrel with birch sap, a bag with burnt crusts is lowered on a rope rye bread or crackers. After two days, fermentation will begin. Then oak bark, berries or cherry leaves, as well as dill stalks are poured into the barrel. After two weeks, kvass is ready.
There is another recipe. Birch sap is heated to 35 ° C, yeast is added to it at the rate of 15-20 g per 1 liter. The leaven is placed for 3-4 days in a cold place, then poured into containers and preserved.
birch syrup
In addition to kvass, fresh birch sap (sweet and slightly sour in taste) can be used to make a tasty and healthy syrup (it can be added to tea or mixed with water). After evaporation, the concentration of sugar in it reaches 60-70%. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the density of honey. It has been proven that sweet syrup made from birch sap not only prevents dental caries, but even stops its development.
When collected Birch juice, are guided, first of all, by the season - it is better to do this at the moment when the buds swell on the trees, but a lot depends on the region in which the collection takes place - in the Moscow region, the Leningrad region, in Siberia or the Urals, in Ukraine, except for in addition, you should know whether it is possible to collect in May and summer, as well as other secrets of this process ...
In what month is birch sap collected - how to determine the timing
For those who love birch sap and annually harvest it for winter storage in large quantities, it is imperative to know the dates when birch sap is collected so as not to miss the most favorable time for the process. For experienced harvesters, it will not be difficult to establish this time interval, regardless of weather and climatic conditions, but beginners should study the issue more carefully.
Which has long been known, the drink is tasty and contains a sufficient amount of vitamins and trace elements, and in order to preserve its beneficial properties, the collection dates should be strictly observed. In addition, it is important to know how to do it correctly so as not to damage the tree, because, with proper handling, it will delight with juice in future years.
Collection of birch sapEven the most experienced birch sap harvester will not name the exact assembly time - everything will depend on weather conditions, climatic zone and region, but first of all, you should observe changes in weather conditions, air heating temperature and humidity index.
If we take the average figures for Russia, then the optimal time for collecting birch sap falls on the period from the last days of March to the end of the first half of April.
To finally make sure that the birch is ready to give up the juice, it is worth taking a walk into the grove and making a test. First of all, attention should be paid to the buds of the tree - they should be swollen, but not blooming. A test puncture is made on the selected tree - if a drop of sap appears, you can be sure that the time to collect birch sap is the most suitable.
When birch sap is collected in different regions of Russia
As mentioned above, the time when birch sap is harvested largely depends on the region, and sometimes varies significantly.
Dates when birch sap is collected in the Moscow region and others central regions Russia, are fickle, but more often fall at the end of April (of course, everything will depend on when the spring heat comes to these regions). However, do not forget to focus on the factors described above in the article - swollen kidneys, the appearance of a drop of juice on a puncture.
Regardless of the region birch sap can only be collected in spring, - the sap flow process begins in the second half of March, sometimes even in early April, and the main factor for this is the average daily temperature indicator - it should be consistently above zero, and the snow cover should actively subside.
In the Chernozem region, this period, as a rule, falls on the first days of March, sometimes in its middle, as for non-chernozem regions, here one should be guided by the third decade of March.
The dates when birch sap is collected in Siberia often fall in April - it is at this time that snow begins to melt in this area, but swollen buds should also be focused on.
You should start collecting sap from the extreme birches growing on the edge, where the sun's rays fall well, and later, when the sun warms up more, you need to move deep into the forest - there the trees come out of sleep later.
When collecting birch sap, preference is usually given to birch trees of medium diameter with a strong healthy trunk - a young tree should not be used for sap intake, it may lose the necessary norm for its normal growth and development and die.
Until what date you can collect birch sap, no one can say for sure, but you can do it in any region until the buds on the birch trees open and the first green leaves appear.
The beneficial properties of birch sap depend not only on compliance with the terms of its collection, but also on many other factors.
Having chosen a suitable tree, it is important to correctly make a hole for taking a healing drink - it should be located at a height of no more than 25 cm from the ground and should not be deep (optimal depth is 6 cm), because the juice moves in the upper layers of the trunk, between the body of the tree and his bark.
Fresh juice is stored for no more than two days if kept in the refrigerator. You should not trust the opinion that birch sap can stand for a month and not lose its beneficial qualities - the drink contains a serious amount of microorganisms and bacteria that begin to cause mold on the third day.
The bark and the tree layer should be cut as carefully as possible, but it is better to make a hole with a thin drill - roughly opened trees can catch the infection and die.
If every year a tree brings less and less juice, this indicates its poor health, which means that sap collection should be stopped.
Prepared for storage with heat treatment. So the drink can be stored for a long time and please useful properties both in hot summer and in cold winter. Some prefer to prepare natural juice without any additives, others like to mix flavors and aromas - most popular recipe drink with additives is or lemon.
As for the benefits of birch sap for human health, one can talk about it endlessly. The juice of this tree has a truly miraculous effect, helping with diseases of the digestive system, liver diseases, stimulating the metabolic process in the body, toning, relieving allergic reactions and much more.
Surely you have only tried this drink, but you have never collected it yourself. To correct this situation, we decided to tell you in detail about how to properly extract birch sap.
General information about the drink
Before telling you about how birch sap is collected, I would like to tell you what this drink is.
Birch sap is a liquid that flows from broken and cut birch branches and trunks, which occurs as a result of root pressure.
Surely everyone knows that birch (the second name of the drink we are considering) is a very valuable and nutritious product. This is due to the fact that it has a beneficial effect on the entire human body.
The composition of the drink and useful properties
In spring, sweet birch sap is extracted due to the fact that it is very rich in vitamins and minerals. Experts say that this drink includes the following substances: various sugars, phosphorus, potassium, zirconium, sodium, nickel, calcium, barium, magnesium, strontium, aluminum, copper, manganese, titanium, iron and silicon. Scientists also found traces of nitrogen in it.
Drinking the drink helps cleanse the blood, break down stones in the kidneys and bladder, and increase metabolism. It also removes toxins and other harmful substances from the body.
Among other things, it is useful to drink birch sap for liver diseases, stomach ulcers, gallbladder pathologies, low acidity, rheumatism, scurvy, sciatica, arthritis, headaches, tuberculosis, and even sexually transmitted diseases.
When to collect birch sap?
Sap production from birch begins in early spring, with the first thaws. This period continues until the buds open. However, it should be noted that the exact time of juice release is quite difficult to establish, since it completely depends on weather conditions. Although most collectors claim that "birch tears" begin to run as early as mid-March.
To independently determine the beginning of the sap flow period, you just need to come to the forest and prick a birch with a thin awl. If after this action droplets of life-giving moisture appear from the hole, then you can safely proceed to its collection and further harvesting.
In our country, maple sap is very rarely extracted. And its volume is quite difficult to compare with birch. This is due to the fact that sugar maple grows only in North America, while other species are not so fast-growing as to give a large number of invigorating drink.
Maple sap is widely used in the northeastern United States as well as in southeastern Canada. As a rule, it is used to obtain a sweet syrup, which is often consumed with pancakes and added to various confectionery products.
Summing up
In this article, we answered in detail the question of how to make birch sap tasty and store it for a long time, and also discussed how it should be extracted without harming trees. Thanks to these tips, you will definitely get a very tasty and healthy drink, which will quench your thirst well and saturate the body with minerals and organic acids. Do not forget to only "treat" the slender beauty and treat the wound so that the tree does not die.
Not everyone is aware of how to collect birch sap correctly so as not to damage the tree and not cause death by incorrect actions, so you should know which month to collect the drink, is it possible to do this in May and summer, what devices to use for collection, how to make a groove, how to use a drip, tubing…
What time to collect birch sap - terms, in which month
Which have been known to man since time immemorial - the drink is really incredibly tasty and healthy, rich in vitamins and other elements necessary for the body. However, not every lover of a natural drink knows how to properly collect birch sap so as not to damage the tree, but it is necessary to have such knowledge, otherwise irreparable harm can be done to the birch - the tree will die.
Collection of birch sapOne of important conditions the correct collection of birch sap is the observance of the recommended terms - according to experienced harvesters, the optimal time for harvesting birch sap is spring, namely the period before buds begin to form. As a rule, this is the second half of March, when the air has already noticeably warmed up - this period is popularly called birch weeping, at this time the most active movement of sap is observed near the tree.
The juice moves intensively along the trunk and branches of trees in the morning and daytime, and by the evening the process slows down noticeably, so the collection it is recommended to appoint in the first half of the day. The color and sweetness of the drink largely depends on which month the birch sap is collected in - fresh juice collected in March is almost transparent and has no color, but not particularly sweet, but a drink collected in April will have a brown tint, but more sugar.
It is necessary to stop collecting birch sap when the buds begin to turn into green leaves. In general, the period for collecting juice is 3-4 weeks, depending on what air temperature is relevant for spring.
How to collect birch sap correctly so as not to damage the tree - collection technology
When birch sap is harvested, the wounds inflicted on the tree are often neglected. If you follow the simple rules that you will read about below, you will be able to collect at least 12-15 liters of sap from a tree and not harm it - the birch will not become infected and, moreover, will not die.
To collect a healing natural drink, you will need a certain set of tools and materials:
- A small but well-sharpened hatchet;
- Hand drill;
- A pack of plasticine;
- The container where the juice will be collected;
- Funnel.
Before you collect birch sap, you need to choose the right source - the tree must be at least 40 cm in diameter. With a hatchet, carefully remove the top layer of bark without hitting the wood. On the bottom of the log house, fix well-mashed plasticine so as to secure a tray or funnel for collecting juice - if the plasticine is damp or wet, the connection will be poor.
A container for collecting juice is installed on the ground under the log house - it can be a plastic bottle with a cut neck, a can or other container.
The third stage is drilling a hole with a drill, the depth of which should not exceed 6 cm - this distance is safe for the health of the tree.
After the required amount of drink has been collected, care should be taken to treat the wound inflicted on the tree - the hole should be tightly clogged, a wooden cork or other improvised materials will do. Such measures will help protect the birch from possible infections, which, with a strong spread, can lead to the death of the entire tree.
Among the rules on how to properly collect birch sap so as not to damage the tree, one more important point should be taken into account - the age of the birch. Collect juice from adults, and preferably old individuals, keeping young ones, since the injury inflicted on a young tree can be fatal for him, and you will be able to collect little juice.
Basic devices for collecting birch sap
Craftsmen have come up with many ways to collect birch sap using various devices, among which the use of a medical dropper is popular - this method gives the richest collection of the drink. A regular dropper, which is sold in a pharmacy, will do. The technology of how to collect birch sap using a dropper is as follows:
- A hole in the trunk of a middle-aged birch is made with a sharp and thinnest drill (slightly thicker than a sewing needle) at a height of one and a half meters, the bark does not need to be removed from the trunk;
- Insert the dropper needle into the resulting hole, and lower the other end through plastic cover in a jar or bottle;
- Two holes must be made in the lid - one for the tube, the other for the free exit of air from the container.
Do not forget to change the container in time so that the juice does not flow out to the ground and is not wasted. After the collection is over, carefully plug the hole with a wooden plug and cover with garden pitch.
Among the devices suitable for how to properly collect birch sap, so as not to damage the tree, are:
- Glass jar 3 l - stable and reliable container for juice, and an aluminum groove inserted into the hole;
- A plastic funnel that ensures the exact hit of the juice into the container in windy weather;
- A bunch of dry grass, inserted into the hole and directing a stream of juice into the jar, also acts as a filter for the juice;
- Tube for juices and cocktails - inserted into the hole in the barrel and sent to a plastic bottle, pinching with a clothespin.
As you can see, a variety of devices can be used, the main thing is to follow the rules of tree-safe collection.
When collecting birch sap, it is important not only to comply with the basic requirements for collection technology, but also to know how to store birch sap at home so that it pleases with its taste and benefits for a long time.
The collection of birch sap continues throughout central Russia. Even in Siberia, the harvesting season has already started, a couple of weeks ahead of the traditional time. Have you already been in the forest, breathing spring? If not, then by all means go for birch sap on the weekend!
It's very cool: to wander through the awakening forest, listen to the murmur of the stream, smell the aroma of the thawed earth and the buds that are ready to burst. And then choose a few thicker and stronger birches, drill shallow holes, and put bottles under them - filled drop by drop with cold moisture, slightly sweet and soft in taste.
What secrets do you need to know in order to properly collect birch sap and not harm yourself or birch trees?
Choose an environmentally friendly area
You can not collect birch sap in areas that are unfavorable from the point of view of ecology, along highways and railroad tracks, as well as under power lines. Such juice can bring not benefit, but harm. After all, a birch, although it drives moisture taken from the earth through itself, still cannot completely clear it of chemical compounds. Go to a clean large forest away from the city, where nature is not spoiled by industrial influence.
Parks and reserves will not work
By law, birch sap cannot be collected in city parks and forest parks, in places of mass recreation for the population, in dendrological parks and botanical gardens. And also in historical and cultural reserves, memorial parks, in habitats of wild animals and wild plants, included in the Red Book. These restrictions also apply to the territories of sanatoriums, rest homes and health care institutions. So if you have planned for yourself a pleasant forest surrounding the out-of-town department of some hospital, then be prepared to pay a fine.
Find a tree with a thick trunk
Romantic thin birch trees, which artists like to draw, will not work for our purposes. Sap collection will only be safe for a tree with a trunk thickness of more than 20 cm in diameter. Choose a strong mature tree with a developed canopy. This indicates that its root system is quite deep and branched, which means that the tree does not take moisture from the surface, where the roots feed polluted melt water, but from clean bowels.
To determine if you have chosen the right tree, make a shallow puncture of the bark - only a centimeter and a half. If transparent drops quickly appear on it, then you can drill a hole and tie up the dishes to collect the juice.
How to collect juice
You can collect it from the moment the snow melts until the first leaves appear, then the powerful root system of the birch already ceases to drive moisture along the trunk with such intensity. It is better to make a hole on the side of the trunk that faces south: there is more active movement of juices. At a height of 40-50 cm above the ground, we make a shallow vertical incision or drill a hole so that the hole goes deep and up. Approximate depth 2-3 cm, so as to only penetrate under the bark layer. Forget about notches with an ax right away - this is a barbaric method.
Insert a "conductor" - for example, a plastic tube - into the hole and lower it into the container. A homemade groove is also suitable, if only the juice gets into a container tied to a tree or a container. It is better to collect in glass, but plastic containers are also suitable if you are not going to store juice for a long time. Otherwise, in plastic, after 6-8 hours it can acquire an unpleasant synthetic smell.
It is believed that two holes can be made on a tree over 25 cm in diameter. But even on a very thick birch, there should not be more than four of them.
How much juice can be collected and how to "treat" a birch.
If you want to collect more than a liter of juice, and not just ritually celebrate spring, then use several trees. It is impossible to take more than one liter per day from an average birch. This can harm the tree. After the collection of juice is completed, the incision must be tightly closed. Experienced sap collectors take wax with them into the forest and cover up the hole. You can also take plasticine, as long as microbes do not get into the hole and rotting does not begin. A well-fitted cork from a cut branch or moss is also suitable, which must be pressed down with a piece of bark and tied to the trunk.
What's the use but pure joy
Meticulous scientists have found out the composition of birch sap. It contains ascorbic acid and B vitamins, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium, fluorine and phosphorus. In small quantities - copper, manganese, titanium, silicon, barium. Glucose and fructose give a slightly noticeable sweet taste. Herbalists claim that birch sap improves immunity, improves metabolism, normalizes blood pressure, stimulates the heart, relieves swelling and relieves inflammation in the oral cavity.
Dermatologists add that it helps with neurodermatitis, boils, acne, eczema, for healing wounds, treating dandruff and against hair loss. So it was not in vain that girls in Russia certainly washed themselves with the first birch sap, considering it a magical remedy for girlish beauty.
When birch sap is harmful
Only the one that is assembled along highways. Birch sap collected in an ecologically unfavorable place can even be poisoned. Therefore, never buy it from your hands, collect it yourself.
Birch sap is also prohibited for those who suffer from diabetes and are allergic to pollen from birch catkins. In the latter case, it is better not to go to the birch grove until the end of May.
If you know that you have no contraindications and are confident in the ecology of the place, then birch sap is what you need to find joy and vigor, to be nourished by the forces of awakening nature.
How to save it
Unfortunately, birch sap is not stored for a long time without special treatment. After standing for two days in the refrigerator, then it begins to become cloudy and sour, it acquires an unpleasant aftertaste.
“You can perfectly preserve fresh birch sap if you bottle it and freeze it,” Alexander Yastrebov, a true connoisseur of wildlife, a Kamchatka plant collector and a great expert in harvesting them, told the correspondent of MIR 24. - In Kamchatka, the snow has not yet melted, but soon the sap flow will begin. I have already marked birch trees not far from my house. And this one I took a picture with is unique. I protect it, I don’t show it to anyone, and I won’t take juice from it.”
Alexander is a musician by education, many years ago he moved to Kamchatka from Zelenograd, built himself a house in the forest, on the shore of the lake, writes music, plays the piano and the guitar, hunts and fishes, collects wild plants, harvests, cooks them fantastically delicious food on own recipes and cater to tourists.
“Frozen juice does not differ in taste from natural, so you can prepare a lot of juice for yourself and your family, if only there was a large refrigerator,” says Alexander. - This year I will do it. And from birch sap you get very tasty kvass, which is unusually good for okroshka. And it's easy to prepare. Immediately after collection, strain the juice, pour into sterilized jars or glass bottles and add a few raisins and sugar to each at the rate of 10-20 g per liter. Then you need to tie the bottles with gauze and leave the juice to wander for 3-4 days in a cool place. Then cork and store in the refrigerator or in the cellar on its side. So it can be stored for several months.
