How to take birch sap in spring. How to collect birch sap without destroying the tree?! Studying the experience of maple sap collectors from Canada

Birch sap when to collect this year, find out from our article, as well as the most effective methods its assembly.

Birch juice are usually harvested in mid-March. The end of the collection of juice in the last days of April - the appearance of the first leaves on the trees.

You should be guided by swollen kidneys. Experienced collectors come to the forest after the 20th of March, make an injection on a birch, the thickness of which is more than 20 cm. If juice comes out in the puncture area, then you can collect it.

A strong flow of juice begins from 10 to 18 hours.

Birch sap is on the surface between the bark and wood, therefore, the hole should be shallow.

Basically, 5 to 10 trees are used, from each of which they take 1 liter of liquid per day. If you take all the sap from a birch, it will destroy the tree.

You need to help the tree heal the wound (so that bacteria do not get into it) using one of the options:

close the wound with garden pitch;
hammer a cork made of wood or moss into the hole.

To collect juice, use a birch tree, the diameter of which is 20-30 cm and the crown is well developed. Such birches have sweet juice. Drill a hole in the birch trunk. The distance from the surface of the earth is 20 cm. A groove is hung in the hole or under it so that the juice flows into the container.

The thickness of the birch trunk determines the number of holes to be drilled:

from 20 to 25 cm - 1 hole;
from 25 to 35 cm - 2;
from 35 to 40 cm - 3;
more than 40 cm - 4 holes.

Please note that as soon as you drill it, it will begin to heal the wound, and the stream of juice will decrease. You can not deepen the hole or drill a new one, it is better to find another tree.

How is birch sap collected and when

How to store birch sap

Birch sap is used in fresh. It cannot be stored even chilled for more than 2 days, it is stored only in a frozen state.

What does it consist of Birch juice?

enzymes, biological substances that strengthen the immune system;
calcium, potassium, magnesium are needed for cardiac activity;
tannin components with anti-inflammatory power;
fructose and glucose for the brain.

Birch sap is useful for everyone, especially in spring. The drink does not contain allergens - it can be consumed by pregnant and lactating women to strengthen the immune system, relieve swelling (the juice has diuretic properties).

Birch sap is effective in therapy kidney failure and inflammation of the kidneys, however, with kidney stones, it should be drunk carefully, as it can provoke the movement of stones and renal colic. Birch sap cleanses the blood, eliminates toxins, helps against poisoning, and is useful in infectious diseases.

Juice is recommended to use with low acidity of the stomach. Doctors advise drinking birch sap 3 times a day before meals, 1 glass. This improves the formation of fluid in the body for the digestion of food. Also, birch sap is used to treat skin problems, against dandruff and to strengthen hair.

Juice tones and strengthens the body. It relieves fatigue, improves immunity. The drink stimulates metabolic processes, it is recommended during the diet. Important property juice - improving bowel function, normalizing blood formation.

Birch sap is an excellent dietary preparation, it has a tonic property. Drink a glass daily, it will give vivacity, drowsiness and lethargy will go away.

Birch sap strengthens the body, acts as a diuretic, improves kidney function. The drink favors the excretion of uric acid, enhances diuresis. It is useful to drink it in diseases of the kidneys and diseases of the urinary system. Juice helps to restore strength in lung diseases, bronchitis, arthritis. Those who suffer from stomach ulcers and urolithiasis should consult a doctor before drinking this drink.

The benefits of birch sap

Birch sap helps with skin problems such as lichen, eczema, furunculosis. The drink is used to gargle during a sore throat. Juice is useful in the complex therapy of cough, headaches, joint diseases. Also, the drink cleanses the blood and removes toxins, helps during intoxication, with infectious ailments.

Birch sap is harmful if it is collected from trees located near the highway, in an ecologically unfavorable place, and also when there is an allergic reaction to birch pollen. Now you know birch sap when to collect this year.

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Birch sap is a clear liquid that flows out of cut or broken birch trunks and branches under the action of root pressure. Sap flow of birch sap begins in the spring with the first thaws and continues until the buds open.

The exact period of release of birch sap is difficult to establish, because it depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the juice has already begun to flow and frost suddenly hits here, then it may stop flowing for some time. However, as a rule, the juice begins to run around mid-March, when the snow melts and the buds swell. To determine the beginning of sap flow, it is enough to go out into the forest and make an injection with a thin awl on a birch as thick as your arm. If the juice has gone, then a drop of juice will immediately come out at the puncture point, which means you can start collecting and harvesting it. Collecting juice is stopped in the second half of April, when the leaves are already blooming.

The most intensive sap flow through the tree occurs in the light half of the day, so start collecting better in the morning, at night the juice "falls asleep". best time there will be an interval between 10.00 and 18.00 for the collection of juice, when it flows most strongly. The number of holes that are recommended to be made depends on the diameter of the tree, if 20-25 cm - then only one, with a volume of 25-35 cm - two, with 35-40 - three, and if the diameter is more than 40 cm - it is quite possible to make four holes.

The collection of birch sap should be started in the most sun-warmed places, where the birch wakes up even if there is still snow around. As the forest warms up, one should move deeper into the thicket, to where the forest wakes up later than on the southern edge. Usually, 2-3 liters of juice per day are obtained from a birch. A large tree can produce about 7 liters of juice per day, and sometimes more. It is preferable to collect the sap where the felling is planned, and it is not recommended to take it from young trees.

Due to the fact that birch roots go far into the ground, it does not absorb poisons from the surface layer of the soil. Therefore, all places where birch grows are equally good for collecting birch sap, but it is still better to collect sap only in ecologically clean forests, because the tree itself is able to absorb harmful substances and exhaust gases.

The choice of dishes for collecting and storing birch sap must be approached selectively. In the old days, birch sap was collected in special boxes made of birch bark, it was believed that in them it retains its properties better. But it is quite possible to collect juice in ordinary glass jars or even in plastic bottles, but remember that chemistry is able to give the juice its specific flavor, and sometimes it dissolves in it itself.

Juice is usually obtained by cutting, cutting or drilling the bark of a tree, the diameter of which is not less than 20 cm, with a well-developed crown. It is better to make a slot or a hole in the trunk on the south side of the tree, where the sap flow is more active, at a distance of 40-50 cm from the ground, downward, your movement should be from the bottom up, the depth of the hole is 2-3 cm to penetrate under the dead bark, and if birch is very thick, then even deeper.

An aluminum, plastic groove, birch bark tray or other semicircular device is inserted into the slot, through which the juice flows into the container. Sometimes juice is obtained by cutting off small branches and attaching to the place of the cut. plastic bag. No need to strive to drain all the juice from one tree, it compensates for some of it, but if you bleed the tree completely, it can dry out. It is better to take a liter of juice per day from 5-10 trees than to take 5 liters from one, dooming it to death.

After the collection of birch sap is over, it is necessary to take care of the tree itself and tightly close the holes made with wax, cork or moss so that bacteria do not get into the trunk, which can seriously threaten the life of the tree. After birch trees are cut, sap collection can be organized from stumps.

If you do not want to drink the juice immediately, but want to keep it longer, pour it into glass jar and refrigerate. So the drink will be less oxidized, that is, spoil. However, it is better not to store the juice for longer than 2-3 days, otherwise it will ferment and turn from healing nectar into poison. But if you preserve the juice, then it will stand for a few more months.

Several recipes for preserving birch sap for long-term storage.

Fresh birch sap is fermented in glass containers of any volume. Rinsing with hot, preferably boiled, water, they are filled fresh juice. For every half liter, add an incomplete teaspoon of ordinary or glucose sugar, 2-3 raisins washed in cold boiled water, and if you like, a little lemon zest. The container is closed with a cork or lid and secured with wire or bandages.

Pressure carbon dioxide during fermentation, a rather high one is created, and so that the glass does not burst, putting more than the indicated amount of sugar is not recommended. After a few days, you will have a pleasant-tasting, sour, highly carbonated drink. Heat juice to preserve enamelware up to 80 degrees. Pour over glass bottles and banks. Fill almost to the top and cork with lids, and bottles with corks, followed by grinding. Then soak for 15 - 20 minutes in water of 85 degrees for pasteurization.

Preparation of kvass from birch sap.

To preserve birch sap, kvass is made from it. Heat up to 35 degrees, add 15-20 g of yeast and 3 raisins per 1 liter, you can add to taste lemon peel. After that, the jar or bottle is tightly closed and left for 1-2 weeks. Kvass can be prepared in a different way. To 10 liters of birch sap add the juice of 4 lemons, 50 g of yeast, 30 g of honey or sugar, raisins at the rate of 2-3 pieces per bottle. Pour into bottles and keep 1-2 weeks in a dark cool place. Kvass can be ready already in 5 days, but the fact that it stays longer will not spoil the drink, it can be stored for the whole summer.

Another kvass recipe. A bag with burnt crusts is lowered on a rope into a barrel of birch sap rye bread. After two days, yeast will pass from the crusts into the juice and fermentation will begin. Then a bucket is poured into the barrel oak bark, as a preservative and tannin, and for flavor - cherries (berries or leaves) and dill stalks. After two weeks, kvass is ready, it can be stored all winter.

Other methods of conservation and preservation of birch sap.

Our ancestors drank birch sap fermented in barrels without added sugar - this was a traditional low alcohol drink at Russian feasts. Birch sap in itself is a pleasant, refreshing and body-strengthening drink, but you can add juice to it chokeberry, lingonberries, blueberries or insist on various herbs - thyme, chamomile, cumin, linden flowers, rose hips, in a jar covered with gauze for about 2 weeks.

You can add to it infusions of St. John's wort, mint, lemon balm, pine needles, juice of cherries, apples, currants. Birch sap can be evaporated to a syrup containing 60% sugar. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the density of honey.

Drink in Belarusian - pour birch sap into a large bottle and put in a dark cool place for 2-3 days. Then barley malt or toasted crushed crackers are added to it. For 5 liters of birch sap - 30 gr. barley malt or crackers. Balm is also prepared from birch sap. A bucket of juice needs 3 kg of sugar, 2 liters of wine and 4 finely chopped lemons. All this must be put to ferment for two months in the cellar, and then bottled and kept for another three weeks.

Medicinal properties of birch sap.

Birch sap contains organic acids, tannins, minerals, iron, potassium, calcium, glucose, fructose, phytoncides. The use of birch sap promotes the splitting of stones in bladder and kidneys, cleansing the blood, enhancing metabolic processes, removes harmful substances from the body in case of infectious diseases. It is useful to drink juice for stomach ulcers, liver diseases, duodenum, gallbladder, low acidity, sciatica, rheumatism, arthritis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, scurvy, headache and sexually transmitted diseases.

Birch sap increases the body's resistance to colds, infectious and allergic diseases, has an anthelmintic, diuretic, antitumor effect, birch sap is useful to wipe the skin with eczema, acne, to moisturize and cleanse dry skin. It is very good to apply the following mask on the skin of the face: mix 1 tbsp. l. sour cream with 2 tbsp. l. birch sap and 1 tsp. honey. You need to keep such a mask for about 15 minutes, rinse with cool water, the skin after it will acquire a beautiful matte shade.

It is also useful to wash your hair with dandruff with birch sap, to enhance their growth and the appearance of shine and softness (an infusion of birch leaves has the same property). Birch juice good remedy from impotence. Birch "tears" have a very good effect on people during menopause, if you drink at least a glass of juice a day, then drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other accompanying menopause phenomena will disappear.

The systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. Birch sap is contraindicated for those who are allergic to birch pollen. IN medicinal purposes birch sap should be drunk fresh. It is recommended to take 1 glass 3 times a day 20-30 minutes before meals for 2-3 weeks.

Birch is an extraordinary tree that cannot be confused with any other. Since ancient times, the people of Rus' have composed songs, sayings and proverbs about birch, admired its beauty and gratefully accepted its lares: wood, tar, birch bark, as well as natural birch sap - a great healthy refreshing drink. Birch sap is clear and only slightly sweet in taste, despite its sugar content of about 2%. This environmentally friendly drink is rich in proteins, vitamins, organic acids, microelements and brings many health benefits. able to destroy kidney stones, helps with diseases of the gallbladder and liver. Also, it is very useful for digestion, helps with all kinds of harmful substances and serves as an excellent general tonic. On a spring day, there is nothing better than drinking a glass of a wonderful pure and natural refreshing drink that nature itself brings to us. And it is a pity that at the time when it is possible to collect birch sap, most urban residents do not have such an opportunity. After all, even if you can buy this drink in stores, when canned, it loses most their useful properties. And fresh birch sap is stored in the refrigerator for no more than two or three days, and then begins to ferment.

And when can you collect birch sap? How to do it? Let's take a closer look at the answers to these questions. As a rule, the beginning of the season when you can collect birch sap is considered to be mid-March, but this period is highly dependent on the weather and climatic conditions of the region in a given year. You can start collecting juice when the snow melts. Then water begins to flow to the roots of the tree, and all the starch available in the roots and trunk turns into sugar, dissolves in water. This solution rises up the trunk to give life to fresh greens. The collection period, unfortunately, is very short - only about two weeks - before the first leaves appear on the tree. Best of all, the juice moves along the trunk in the morning, when the sun is high and shining brightly. To accurately determine whether the long-awaited period of collecting juice has come, you need to make a small puncture on the birch with a thin spike. If a drop of juice appears at the site of damage, then you can start collecting it. To do this, it is better to choose trees standing on hills and open edges - where there is a lot of sun. The sap of such birches has more high content useful substances.

It is very important in the process of collecting juice not to harm the birch itself. You should be very careful in choosing a tree for these purposes. There are cases when it is impossible to collect birch sap in any case - this will kill the birch. The main rule is that the tree should not be too young or too old. As you know, the age of a tree is determined by the thickness of its trunk, therefore the best choice there will be a birch with a diameter of about 20-30 centimeters. In addition, the tree should not be sick. As already mentioned, it is better to look for a birch that sees a lot sunlight. You should also not be greedy and try to take more from the tree than it can give: a liter of juice for a period of 2-3 days is enough. By choosing suitable tree you need to make a hole in its bark with a chisel or knife. The hole must not be too deep. A tube or groove made of aluminum or plastic is placed in it, through which the juice will come out. Now it remains only to substitute a vessel suitable for collecting juice and periodically check its fullness. In some cases, it is enough to simply hang the bottle on a broken branch without causing additional damage to the birch.

Now, knowing how and when to collect birch sap, we can use the knowledge and get incredible pleasure and benefit from drinking a wonderful natural drink, which the birch tree shares with us - amazing and dear to the heart of every person in

Many people love birch sap. The taste of the drink often causes a lot of pleasant memories of childhood. Birch sap is recommended to be used in spring for everyone, because it contains great amount minerals, and also cleanses the blood and removes kidney and liver stones. How and when to collect birch sap this year? How to do it correctly so as not to damage the tree?

The time for collecting birch sap falls on the end of March, April

Birch sap: how and when to collect it correctly?

Scientists have long noticed that the biological substances that make up a natural drink not only improve brain function, but also have antiseptic properties, strengthen immunity, and positively affect the functioning of the endocrine glands. In Russia, birch sap has always been valued, and every spring they actively collect and use it as a health-improving drink.

How and when to collect birch sap so that the human body receives the greatest benefit? collection time valuable drink falls at the end of March, April. In regions with a cold climate, it is harvested in May. Each locality has its own terms and the air temperature should reach +5 degrees. The tree itself helps to determine the exact time. When the birch buds swelled, it's time to go for the juice.

It is in the middle of spring that all vegetation wakes up after winter, and the period of active sap flow begins. Tree roots suck up from the soil nutrients. Through the vessels in the tree trunk, they are delivered to all parts of the plant, saturating it with biologically active components.

It is in April that birch sap contains the largest number moisture, glucose, fructose, other bioactive components and their concentration is just perfect. Birch sap in April is not only healthy, but also delicious. How to properly collect liquid? Here are some tips:

The greatest value is the juice obtained from perennial birch trees with a thick trunk. The root system of young trees is too weak and has not had time to grow enough, so it does not absorb so many components from the soil. At a young birch chemical composition juice is different from the old tree and contains more water, how valuable substances. However, old trees are also not suitable.
It is worth choosing those trees that grow in ecologically safe areas, away from highways, factories, plants and other potentially dangerous sources of pollution. Perfect option- go to the countryside, to the forest.
To collect enough juice must go to birch grove. According to reviews, about 1-2 liters of liquid can be collected from one tree per day. This amount is only enough for one person. To collect more birch sap, it is necessary to simultaneously install containers for collecting the drink on several trees.

How to collect birch sap correctly so as not to damage the tree?

Birch sap lovers return to their places of collection every year healing drink. It is for this reason that during the collection of liquid, it is important not to damage the tree. A gross mistake is to remove the bark, cause deep damage to the birch using an ax. From such wounds, the tree will suffer for many years or even die.

We suggest using a safe method of collecting birch sap:

to extract valuable contents, it is worth using a brace with a drill or a screwdriver with a self-tapping screw, the diameter of which is equal to the diameter of the drain tube. The optimal diameter is 5 mm, but not more than 10 mm;
it is recommended to collect no more than 1-1.5 liters of juice per day from one birch. It is very important to leave enough liquid for the plant, which will become very weak and may die;
after receiving a sufficient amount of drink, it is important to close the hole made in the barrel. To do this, use garden pitch, resin or wooden cork.

According to the observations of experienced birch nectar collectors, the most active sap flow is observed during the day, approximately from 10-11 to 17-18 hours.

How and when to collect birch sap, video:

love natural drinks useful for health and want to know how and when to collect birch sap? There is nothing complicated in this matter, but some nuances should still be taken into account. The main thing during the collection of liquid is to think not only about the amount of the collected substance, but also about nature. No need to use barbaric methods to extract juice. After all, you will have to return to the grove again and it’s good if by that time the tree remains intact.

Birch sap (birch)- liquid coming out of a birch in places of damage to its trunk or branches. Such damage can be cuts or fractures, and the outflow of fluid is due to the action of root pressure in the tree.

Birch sap - very valuable product, enriched with many substances useful for the body, due to which this liquid has a complex beneficial effect on human health.

Composition of birch sap

Juice density - 1.0007-1.0046 g / ml;
Dry matter content - 0.7-4.6 g / l;
Ash content - 0.3-0.7 mg / l;
The total sugar content is 0.5-2.3%;
Proteins - 0.1 g / 100 g;
Fat - 0.0;
Carbohydrates - 5.8 g / 100 g;
Among organic substances, we note: essential oils, saponins, betulol, more than 10 organic acids.

The calorie content of birch sap is- 22-24 kcal per 100 g of fresh product.

Birch sap also contains the following macro- and microelements (minerals):

sugars - 1-4%;
potassium (K) - 273 mg / l;
— 16 mg/l;
— 13 mg/l;
— 6 mg/l;
aluminum (Al) - 1-2 mg/l;
manganese (Mn) — 1 mg/l;
iron (Fe) - 0.25 mg / l;
silicon (Si) - 0.1 mg/l;
titanium (Ti) - 0.08 mg/l;
copper (Cu) - 0.02 mg/l;
strontium (Sr) — 0.1 mg/l;
barium (Ba) - 0.01 mg/l;
nickel (Ni) - 0.01 mg/l;
zirconium (Zr) - 0.01 mg/l;
phosphorus (P) - 0.01 mg/l;
traces of nitrogen (N).

The chemical composition may vary somewhat depending on the region where the donor birch grows and the composition of the soil on which the tree grows.

Medical studies have shown that taking at least one glass a day for 2-3 weeks (it is optimal to drink a glass three times a day half an hour before meals) will help the body cope with spring, or absent-mindedness, and fatigue.

From the point of view of herbal medicine, birch sap is one of the best natural remedies to improve metabolism. Despite the fact that birch sap differs little from water, it ferments well and has positive influence to the work of the stomach.

Birch sap is rich in sugars, organic acids, enzymes, calcium, magnesium, iron and other salts necessary for the body, which we talked about a little earlier. Due to its rich composition, it is recommended for diseases of the blood, joints, skin, as well as for other respiratory diseases.

The use of birch sap helps to cleanse the blood, enhance metabolic processes, remove harmful substances from the body in case of infectious diseases. It is useful to drink juice for and, diseases of the liver, gallbladder, low acidity, scurvy, and venereal diseases.

Birch sap also contributes to the rapid cleansing of the body of harmful substances and the breakdown of urinary stones of phosphate and carbonate origin.

Birch increases the body's resistance to colds, infectious and allergic diseases, has an anthelmintic, diuretic, antitumor effect, it is useful to wipe the skin with birch sap to moisturize and cleanse dry skin.

And it’s also useful to wash your hair with birch sap, to enhance their growth and the appearance of shine and softness (an infusion of birch leaves has the same property). Birch sap is a good remedy for impotence. Birch "tears" have a very good effect on women during the period. If you drink at least a glass of juice a day, then drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other accompanying menopause phenomena will disappear.