Author: britishseabuckthorn

The primary objective of growing sea buckthorn here at Devereux farm has always been to produce a commercial crop of consistent quality berries. This crop then has to be acceptable to the UK market. With sea buckthorn growing wild in the UK this might not seem like much of a challenge. All crops at some stage have been derived from wild stock, but it takes many years of breeding to tame them. Our wild varieties are picked by foragers who I admire as the plants bristle with thorns potentially making harvesting difficult and painful.

From the outset the Devereux farm project started by looking for plants with less thorns and easier harvestability. German commercial varieties fitted this criteria and commercially proven. To undertake this work you have to be inquisitive so our original thoughts widened the choice of which varieties to plant, so the German plants were joined by plants from Finland. Varieties of Terhi, Tytti, Raisa together with males of Rudolph and Tarmo joining the initial trials back in 2009.

At the time we also looked at trying to source other varieties from North America. These plants were primarily of Russian genetics, but regulations made it difficult to import them. This was frustrating as it was clear then that as plant breeding of sea buckthorn had been developing since the 1930s in Russia, this was the place to source varieties.

Projects such as ours often develop from opportunity rather than an exact plan. So in that same year of 2009, when the chance to attend the International Sea Buckthorn Association (ISA) conference in Siberia was offered this seemed like a huge leap forward. The visit was planned by the Incrops Enterprise hub, then based at the University of East Anglia. The University of East Anglia was developing then, and since has become a centre of excellence in plant breeding and research.

Attending the ISA conference was a real eye opener with several hundred delegates from around the world. Over a week there were many research papers presented indicating the huge depth of work going on in Russia, China, Germany, Scandinavia and Himalayan India. Results of the EAN Sea Buck project – an EU funded analysis of the global sea buckthorn industry; farming issues from organic methods, pest and disease management, harvesting, and processing. Papers on benefits, including one on improving cognitive impairment. This was inspirational.

The conference hosts, the Lisavenko Research institute of Horticulture for Siberia also arranged a visit to their facilities and orchards to view their varieties. Varieties that were being bred for the global commercial market focusing on harvestability, taste, yield and nutritional content. This presented sea buckthorn farming as a new reality.

In the following year a collaborative agreement developed between Lisavenko and Incrops Enterprise hub. The result was access to Siberian varieties for our farm.

That is now all history, the practical result at Devereux farm is one field with our original german and finnish varieties and a second site containing ten Siberian varieties all sourced from Lisavenko.

Six years on from when the first Siberian plants went into the ground, much has been learnt from trial, error and solving each problem as it presents itself. The plants are maturing and the fact that our soil and climate is alien to them means that they are still acclimatising.

This year approximately 2500 of the Siberian plants presented a good crop – our first real sight of delivering our primary objective, a commercial crop.  A commercial crop has to have consistent quality and it is to this subject that we now have to focus.

The objective of planting mixed varieties is to have early, mid-season and late ripening so harvest is staggered over maybe two months or longer. This year has indicated that even though the varieties we have present a long harvest period in Siberia, for us they almost all ripen together. The weather we have had this year has been unusual so it difficult to assess whether the short harvest season is a factor just for this year or not. The second issue has been variable size of berry on the same plant.

Lisavenko declare the average size of their berries so we had a guide and an expectancy. The variable size of berries present a confused position on this and it is important. Large berries are easier to pick. Our crop had maybe 10% large berries and even these were not as large as the Lisavenko expectation.

To deliver a crop of consistent quality, understanding ripening times and size of berry are key, but there has been a third factor. German berries develop in thick clumps on branches. Siberian berries being larger, appear as individual berries on stalks. Our plants are presenting their crop as clumps which means that as the berries grow in size they become squeezed between each other often creating mis-shapen fruit. As we all know the UK market in supermarkets requires size to be uniform, and mis-shapen fruit is unmarketable.

So this harvest has presented the next raft of problems to solve. This is no different to past issues. We have resolved issues with pests, with diseases, with acclimatising the plants to our soil.

To start the process of resolving these issues we decided this year that there was only one way to understand them. Travel back to Siberia and visit Lisvenko itself – see their plants at their harvest time; see their berries being harvested and assess their ripening times. By compare their management techniques with ours we can make a plan to improve our agronomy in the field so that we can grow berries of consistent size and marketability. Extending the ripening season may be an issue we have to live with, but a shorter harvest will require the most efficient harvesting technique.

So with all this in mind, Ben and I have just travelled to Siberia for a six day visit. We were honoured by attending the Board of the directors of the Scientific committee of the International Sea Buckthorn Association. We saw new processing machinery that makes sense of our harvesting issues. We visited the largest sea buckthorn plantation in Siberia, saw it being harvested and assessed plants of all ages of maturity within that site. The visit provided the opportunity to discuss our issues with those at the fore-front of the global industry. It has been an intense visit, but provided much food for thought and resolved in our minds how to move forward for successfully delivering our aim to produce a commercial crop of siberian sea buckthorn in the UK.

Plans and budgets are all very well, but reality is unpredictable. I had anticipated that our harvest would have been spread over at least 50 days. Generic information about each variety indicated large berry size. The order in which varieties were likely to ripen was formed from actual Brix measurement trends. In reality all this has to be logged as life experience. All eight Siberian varieties ripening over just 28 days. The speed at which berries went from ripe to over ripe. Variable berry size, the proportion of large to small, and how each size ripen are all critical to creating a viable harvest.

How many times have I had to remind myself that growing these varieties is a trial not a commercial crop. Every year edges it forward to becoming commercial. Every year comes with successes, but with this comes new questions. A principle achievment this year has been a collective agreement about taste.

Taste is the most important issue. This has been the first year where there has been sufficient crop to assess taste across varieties, plant ages and conditions. The one variety that is questionable is Elizaveta. For some reason the berry, although large and impressive has a slight fermented flavour. This in itself might be useful in particular product, but it could have a potential to taint other variety berries, so it will need using carefully.

A huge amount has been learnt from this harvest, but there are also many unanswered questions. Next year’s harvest is now the focus. With conventional farming there would be many sources for this information. For Siberian sea buckthorn there is only one choice but going back to source – so next month Ben and I are going to Siberia to test our thoughts on those who have been growing this crop for years.

Being able to assess each of the varieties here at Devereux farm provides understanding of the raw berry. The objective of growing the crop is to turn it into a marketable product. As a new product on the market it has to achieve immediate impression. Consistent quality in flavour, colour, function is essential. Taste has to inspire to become a credible ingredient in recipies and products.

While there has to be focus on clarity of the issues that arose from this last harvest, there must be equal importance put on what to do with it.

As soon as the berry is picked it has to be handled with care to capture and retain its quality. Storage has technical options that can influence how to transfer this quality from bush to product.  Once again, there is little or no experience in developing the best system to achieve the sea buckthorn product that is best suited to the UK market.

Investing in equipment therefore has to find a flexible line to adapt to future needs. Scale will soon outmode what is bought for the purpose now. The crop will grow in yield and we will improve out harvesting efficiency. Growing multiple varieties creates challenges in itself as each has its own quality parameters that need to be managed and brought into the context of delivering a consistent product to the market.

This autumn and winter’s diary is filling fast with tasks that need to be achieved. Until now investment has been moderate and in small tranches. The farm has been able to absorb this new enterprise into its cashflow without issue. The coming phase will require a new level of finance in buildings, infrastructure, equipment and ultimately new staff.

This comes at a time when the UK is entering the Brexit negotiations. Regardless of personal views on the subject this is unsettling. The reality with this whole subject is as unpredictable as our growing sea buckthorn. The difference is that a poor outcome will impact on the economic wellbeing of our internal market. Confidence is difficult to find when there are uncertainties and instability. Finding finance will become more difficult. Finding markets for new product will require additional levels of faith, trust and belief.

Our core business of the rest of the farm will also need to assess its future. 50% of the farm has been managed as conservation land to enhance the neighbouring Hamford Water National Nature reserve for over ten years. Predicting future agricultural policy for the UK is impossible until the results of Brexit are delivered. This conservation land has become part of the ethos of the farm. Developing habitat and biodiversity is not something that can be switched on and off at will. We are told that this is important to the government at the moment, but if access to markets changes and the demand for home grown food changes then all this might change.

Climate change is a reality we now live with. Every winter the risk of surge tides overtopping our sea walls rises. Sea level rise and increased winter storminess come with this. We are all aware of extreme weather events becoming part of life. Extreme though these are, they are natural events and therefore accepted as part of life. The variables brought about by political and economic events are somehow less easy to accept as they should be more manageable.

But life is about opportunities and although political tensions are sometimes worrying they are only a distraction from the need to keep focused on one’s own future.

Growing sea buckthorn is something this farm is committed to and 2017 has been another positive year in its development. 2018 will become formative in the future of the whole enterprise.

In farming the environment contributes probably more than 80% towards results of growing sea buckthorn here in the UK. By environment I mean, soil, weather, pests and diseases. The other 20% represents the amount of impact one’s management has on the end result.

Over the past five years, the 20% includes the compost spread, weed cutting , compost tea applications, pruning and all those actions that go towards creating a healthy environment for the plants to live in. Each arising from a problem identified and a solution tested.

The 80% however is a problem. Harvest 2017 promised to be good. Pollination worked well and all sea buckthorn plants presented berries. Berry ripening monitored from June indicated a steady week on week improvement through into July.

Colour change, firmness, Brix (soluable solids) figures provided guidance as to when each variety would ripen and in what order enough to create a plan. Etna, as in 2016 was the earliest. Chuiskaya, Augustina and Elizaveta looked as if they would be next in July, followed by Klaudia. Sudarushka, Altaiskaya and Inya would then come through in August as later varieties.

Added to the physical assessments tasting has been a key tool to assess ripeness. A process in which the whole family has participated. As the farm’s first crop there has been nothing to guide us from previous years, except for memories of the first time I tasted them in their native Siberia in 2009. The concept that Siberian berries are sweeter provided a broad guide but this only applies to some of them. Taste is part of the growing process. Again, the fact the plants are in an alien soil and climate might alter the end result.

In the back of my mind was the concept that the Siberian harvest extends through August and September. From last year I knew that Etna came early in July, so it is logical that our harvest should extend through July and August.

Reality has been a hard lesson.

Etna did ripen first, from June 28th. Klaudia, as unpredictable as ever developed from being  unripe in the second week of July. Not only that, but the taste was still sharp and measuring a lower Brix. Chuiskaya and Augustina were developing well in this time and we started to pick them. Within a few days Klaudia rapidly ripened and its smaller berry made it difficult to pick.  At this time there was still a concept that three varieties would ripen in August. They remained firm, although the colour was a uniform orange and Brix moving through 11. Some Inya berries looked as if they would develop into long and large berries of around 0.9gm or even bigger.

The inconvenient truth is that all the varieties at Devereux farm ripened very rapidly. With an expectation of berries to grow in size and taste to sweeten we waited. The majority of the berries did not grow and became over ripe in the process. Whether this is an issue of the plants being young, a problem of soil or weather we will have to ascertain during the year ahead. We have always known that hand picking is an problem that holds sea buckthorn back as a crop, but this becomes extreme if a berry is no bigger than 0.5g.

There has to be a solution to harvesting the smaller berried varieties. In Europe harvesting is often a process of cutting branches, then freezing them making the branches brittle. When shaken the berries and leaves fall off easily without damage. This works well with some, but not all varieties.

In the hope that this might work with some Siberian varieties we have selected four varieties for cutting trials – Etna, Altaiskaya, Sudarushka and Inya. All these we have observed as being stronger growers. Hopefully they will react to branch cutting by producing a biannual cycle of harvestable branches and a solution to cropping smaller berries.

Some of these small berried varieties have distinctive and attractive taste. In our tasting trials we have noticed the subtle differences between varieties. Tones of apricot, apple, pineapple have all been expressed. All have the promised sugar/acid flavour balance characterised by Lisavenko varieties,  with this ratio varying between varieties. This will be useful in the future for blending when mixing for different product use.

This harvest is not over as there are still non-Siberian varieties still to pick. Picking the Siberian berries has provided the first opportunity to prove their taste is second to none. Delivering berry quality has always been the focus. This first harvest has provided the opportunity to understand the quality standards that we want to achieve. Some of these require technical solutions that will be be part of the on site processing facilities that we are having designed for installation this winter. Others are part of the process of developing growing techniques. For this we need to go back to the experts, so this means a trip to Siberia itself.

Growing any crop is a natural process and to get it right we just have to be patient – for one more year.

As the Devereux farm sea buckthorn project has progressed each year has achieved some milestones. From 2012 to 2014 the Siberian sea buckthorn plants were imported and established. 2014/2015 disease became an issue and solutions were found following the principle that the project was to be organic. 2016 the Soil Association started the three year organic accreditation process. 2017, non lethal anti-bird measures to protect the crop were installed and the first crop developed.

Having found a stage where there is a crop of up to 10kg on some varieties there are two clear objectives for the next twelve months. The first of these is technical. Investing in facilities that pass Environmental health inspectors, and pursue quality accreditation for our product to add to our Soil Association application which will make us organic by 2019.

As farmers and growers we are a primary producer, producing a simple berry product the only processing being put into a punnet for market. As such the Environmental Health regulations are not tight, but if we are installing processing equipment this winter so the regulations will have to conform as to full food manufacturing standards. In the long term this will be worth it, but this adds a significant learning curve to the project at this stage.

Alongside this the other objective is to really get to understand how to grow Siberian sea buckthorn here in the UK. It is one thing to grow the plants successfully. Achieving a good pollination has shown that we can produce a significant amount of berries. The next stage from that is growing a consistently larger berry.

In siberia berry size varies, but for some of the varieties we have a target of over 1 gram per berry is achievable. So this has to be a target. Currently we are seeing berry size of an average of up to 0.85gm. Soil type has always been an issue as our clay soils are the direct opposite of the soil that sea buckthorn likes. To improve our soils we have to improve the organic matter and moisture retention in the soil and ensure that all the nutrients that are key to developing good fruit are available to the plant.

Soil samples taken earlier this summer provide guidance, but as a new crop in an unfamiliar environment success will come from more exacting trials. The taste of the berries we are producing is superb, but perfecting taste, size and nutritional quality will take time.

As this harvest progresses we are starting to understand the way each of the varieties ripens. So far Etna started the process with small sweet berries, slightly red in colour. Klaudia – having given an impression that this was still maybe two weeks from maturing has ripened incredibly quickly. The berries are long, but not filling to a size that was anticipated. Thick clumps of berries are ripening at different rates on the branches, making picking a difficult process. Next year we need to start earlier and it is clear that picking Klaudia will require multiple picking visits over a period of time to make harvest effective. Chuiskaya is ripe now, but Elizaveta is also very close.  Chuiskaya berries are rounder and full, which is how one would expect other varieties to present themselves. Some Chuiskaya plants have bigger berries than others indicating that maybe variation in soil in the field is an influence.

As these factors need to be considered and a program developed for next year to focus on improving berry size across the crop.

With this melting pot of ideas we are picking all varieties, but trying different approaches with different varieties trying to find the most effective way to hand pick quickly, accurately and without damage. We are picking some of all varieties and freezing them down for processing trials this winter. Without full Environmental health inspected facilities we will not be selling this year, so picking is down to the family. But we are confident in perfecting growing method, picking, storage, processing and that is a huge leap forward.

One of the first things that attracted me to sea buckthorn as a new crop was its potential for so many uses. The ancient texts that promote its health benefits both for humans and animals evidence that for over 2000 years this plant has been respected as a great natural resource. When it comes to being a food however, health attributes may be seen as little more than a bonus. As with all foods it is taste that is the most important issue.

Taste comes in multiple layers. On a personal level there is the instant sensation of like and dislike. Our taste develops through early life and we all recognise how it changes and the foods that we like and we might have rejected as children.

Accepting that we like a food is a natural process. One can analyse the reasons and understand which taste sensations are driving our desires, but it is normally an instant process. It is this fact that is the current focus for our sea buckthorn crop as Devereux farm.

Including all German, Finnish, Latvian and Siberian plants we have 19 female plant varieties on site. The berries of each and every one of these provides a different taste sensation. The taste of a food changes and matures as it ripens, therefore understanding the ripening process is critical to how we grow and produce our berries.

This year we started analysing the soluable solids in the berries from early June. This is providing data on how the berries of each of the varieties are maturing. This indicated a good constant development pattern indicating up to a 15% increase week on week. Colour change is obvious, moving from green, to yellow to orange with Etna showing an additional shade of red, indicating higher carotenoid content. Understanding the final ripening process is more of an art than a science. Finally firmness to touch and the gloss on the berry skin gives another visual indication of condition.

This year the weather started with a dry winter. This has developed into a warm to hot summer, which is very different to our normal cool overcast mild climate.

Information from our plant suppliers in Siberia indicates that the sea buckthorn varieties we have should mature through August and September. In the past two year Etna has already shown this was going to vary, as it ripens in early July. Klaudia, with its habit of breaking dormancy in January, is likely to have different to normal characteristics. As Etna ripens so early here, I had concluded that our harvest would be through July and August, maybe going into September.

With this in mind and looking at the way the Soluable solids figures where changing over June and into July, I had formed a concept of which varieties were going to mature and roughly when. I built into this the idea that each variety would be ripe for around 15 days. 15 days meaning that the optimum ripeness is at about day ten, the taste holding for a few more days before the fruit starts to become over ripe.

The first indication that this concept might not be right, is coming from tasting trials. Every day we taste each of the varieties that are maturing.  It is becoming clear that several varieties are maturing closely together. Furthermore it is becoming clear that having an original concept of a harvest up to 90 days long, may well in fact be closer to 50. This means that picking becomes more focused and opportunity to supply fresh berry into market is reduced to a short season.

Whereas I had hoped we would be picking to sell this year, this will be the most important year of learning how to manage our crop. The berries appear on different varieties either in tight clusters or individually on the branch. They mature at varying rates. They are achieving different sizes. All of these impact on efficient and effective picking. As the crop is going to have to be handpicked, finding the best method to maximise speed of picking is essential. Speed also has to be balanced with care so that each berry is picked without damage.

All of this is down to observation and until these issues are fully understood we are not going to be in a position to sell. This is disappointing but it is all coming back to the concept that the sea buckthorn being grown at Devereux farm is a trial, and that there is realisation that it will take 20 years to bring that to full commercial success.

A long time – but worth it.

The anticipation for picking berries grows daily. As this is our first crop of a fruit that I last tasted in 2009 the issue of deciding precisely when our sea buckthorn berries will be ripe is teasing. We now have a whole month of Brix and berry dimension measurements.

As with all crops, breeders declare the optimum yields and quality values of their varieties. On this basis our Siberian sea buckthorn berries will have a berry weight varying from around 0.65g to over 1 gram. A weight of one gram might sound small but in a fruit that has small berries this could be a giant. This of course sets aspirations which might be misplaced. I have to remind myself that the plants have come to an alien soil and climate. They might – or might not achieve their genetic potential.

Every Thursday berries are weighed and measured and results are showing steady progress. The objective of this is to indicate the varieties that are ripening soonest. At the beginning of June it looked as if Augustina; Etna; Elizaveta; Chuiskaya led the pack, with Inya;Klaudia;Altaiskaya and Sudarushka offering those that are going to push harvest through into September.

This week the order is hardening up with Etna way out front. The issue though is that the berries are quite small currently at 0.5gm, with some indicating they should go larger. The brix however is racing ahead, having increased 2.0 in a week to 12.5. The largest berry at the moment comes from variety Elizaveta and is 0.75gm. These have a much lower brix so I suspect will not be ready for picking for a month.

Taste is another experience. These will not be the intense sharpness of classic foraged or European sea buckthorn.  It has the same intense burst, but is definately unique. It has an apple tingle to it and is less citrus. I suppose this is why these berries are called the “Siberian pineapple”.

Taste is king as a food item, but sea buckthorn has its health atttributes. Nutrient quality matures as fruit ripens. It is influenced by the nutrients in the soil, the weather, hours of sunlight, temperature and rain. Again growing Siberian sea buckthorn in the UK will have its own unique outcome, but looking at other research papers, some research shows key nutrients change in different ways through the ripening process.

The maximum oil content in the fruit and seed develops right through the ripening process. Other nutrients are different.  Sea buckthorn contains 24 different minerals including iron, calcium, manganese, magnesium, silicon, boron and others. Calcium levels are expected to be highest before the berry becomes fully ripe. Magnesium builds through the whole process. Vitamin C  follows the Calcium.  This is to be expected as vitamin C – ascorbic acid is after all an acid with a sharp taste. As our berries ripen with the sharpness is mellowing this indicates a slight fall in vitamin C when the berry is fully ripe. As I have said many times – we should not however be concentrating on single nutrients. It is the total nutrient package that gives health benefit. It is the total nutrient package that matters and the way each nutrient synergises with others to combine that delivers the health benefits we look for.

I am taking sea buckthorn oil capsules, three times a day because I firmly believe that they provide the stamina I need to manage the site. Every day needs strimming, mowing otherwise the weeds will rampantly take over and having reached by 60th birthday some time ago I see as stamina is an essential. Each month the plants need spraying with foliar feeds – over 1000 plants in a day.

As harvest approaches there are a million new things to think about. picking will start on Monday with Etna but this will be to start to learning curve. First issue – how long will they last in the fridge; will they ripen in the fridge and at what rate? Developing the best picking method. Designing the best picking tray. Understanding the difference between fully ripe and ripening berries. Creating a specification so that customers are sold a punnet with berries offering best taste, similar size and uniform colour.

One job that has become a morning and evening routine issue this summer has been looking after sea buckthorn plants in pots. These are kept as replacments for plants that die through the year. As these plants get bigger they really do not like the restriction of being in a pot. Leaves yellow with depressing frequency. Alongside the sea buckthorn there are edible honeysuckle plants. These have tended to brown and show their dislike of being in pots. Now I think I have cured with a simple solution.

In the garden we are told some plants favour being watered with rainwater, not tap water. This is fine except in a very dry year when there is little rain. I have started to use water from my compost tea brewer to water my potted plants and that seems to have made a radical difference. The brewer aerates tap water, allowing chemicals like chlorine that are put into the water. The honeysuckle particularly has responded really well, so although pot watering is tedious every day, it is at least rewarding with healthy looking plants.

The other innovation this week might not look professional but is part of looking to produce sea buckthorn with a low carbon footprint.

Compost tea spraying has moved forward from a backpack sprayer to a sprayer trailed behind the Westwood mower. As a petrol machine it uses a surprising amount of fuel as it idles which spraying the orchard of 4000 plants. All the tractor does is tow the sprayer and provide the battery power to run its pump.

The builder who is creating our processing building watched this process and offered the use of an old electric mobility scooter he had in his store. The result might look novel, but it has cut out another use of fossil fuel. It does not use fuel when idling beside the plant being sprayed. It also is completely quiet and allows the operator to get off and spray it difficult parts that was not possible with the old tractor.

This might sound an eccentric choice, but minimising energy and use of resources is an objective that will be on-going as we develop the crop of sea buckthorn at Devereux farm.

As this week saw the coming of mid summer day it is odd how we perceive the seasons. August maybe the time of school holidays and when many people take their annual leave, but it is the end of summer and also its weather is often unpredictable. June however feels more as if it is the start, not the middle of our favoured season. This year June has clocked up the hottest temperature since the early 1970s. With it, the Siberian sea buckthorn plants at Devereux farm have been basking in weather that they would take as the norm in their native climate.

Plants should behave to a normal growing cycle. In Siberia the sea buckthorn plants would come out of their winter dormancy in April. With a multiple number of varieties available harvesting goes through from early August through to October.

As I have often recorded our plants at Devereux farm break their winter dormancy in January and February with the variety Klaudia leading the pack. All the others will have joined the early riser by mid February.

So when it comes to ripening I should be expecting berries to be ready for harvest in August.

In order to assess how the berries are developing each week, a random sample of 20 berries are being measured, weighed and having their Brix ( soluable solids ) assessed. Results from this indicates that ripening is happening earlier than in native Siberia. This is definately the case for the variety Etna which looks as if it will be ready for picking by the first week of July. Chuiskaya is colouring up as if to be the next in line for harvesting. In Siberia these would be ready in the second half of August.  As this is the first year of being able to record these figures they are our best guide as to how the crop is developing. The immediate issue is the variation in berry size. I am expecting ripe berries to weigh between 0.6 – 1.0 g each. Currently Etna weighs in at 0.5g as an average of 20 berries. It seems to be adding about 0.1g per week.  Chuiskaya is larger at 0.55g but expected to ripen at around 0.9g per berry, whilst Augustina I am hopeful will crack the 1.0g/berry in size. As these all are changing colour to bright orange the varieties Altaiskaya and Sudarushka have berry weighs of 0.35g and are still a full olive green in colour. These variations indicate that the eight varieties that we will be picking will give an extended harvest season of early July through into September.

If Brix is the value I should be following to assess ripening then Etna is again way out front at 10.5, with Chuiskaya close behind at 10.6 falling away to the very unripe “Altai” and “Sudi” at 6.8 and 6.5.

The brightest orange Etna berries have lost the sharp characteristic sea buckthorn taste, which reflects the concept that Lisavenko have been breeding “dessert” varieties of sea buckthorn. Of the varieties at Devereux natural sugar content may vary in berries from 5% to 10%. In taste this will be offset by the natural anti-oxidants and high vitamin content dampening the sweeter flavour. High vitamin C levels are characterised with sea buckthorn. In their native Siberia our varieties deliver levels around 90-120mg/100g

Other quality aspirations will include the fruit oil content varying between 4-7% in the varieties we have at Devereux. It is the oil that fills the supplement capsules that are the popular means of accessing the benefits of sea buckthorn. The berry also of course has its seed containing the omega 7 which is often defined as the primary beneficial content that differentiates sea buckthorn from other plants.  I think that as with many natural products, it is no one particular nutrient that should be isolated as the primary focus of interest. Health benefits come from a whole complex of natural compounds within the berry. Recognising that they all synergise together delivering multiple benefits is more important than singling out high profile nutrients which is a common marketing practice.

I digress, because the focus now is on harvest. Hand picking is to be a new experience. Looking at the plants as they are now, within any plant the berries are at different stages of ripeness. Picking has to select those at optimum ripeness and remove them without damage.

Devereux farm is a trial site. Rows are laid out with different row spacings; different spacing between plants; rows with a single variety and rows with multiple varieties. Harvesting needs to be planned so as to chose the ripest plants on the site and ensure that the correct plants are picked so there is no mixing of berry varieties. With varieties ripening at different times and having different berry sizes and tastes it is essential that this works 100% accurately. With some rows planted with plant varieties in random groups of 12 plants, this will require a failsafe management system.  Being able to maintain quality and trace berries back to the plants they came from is an important part of forever improving our knowledge of growing sea buckthorn.

Hand picking will be time consuming. With high summer temperatures once the berries are picked they could start to deteriorate. To minimise this, berries will be collected into chilled boxes in the field within minutes of being picked. Maintaining a constant cool temperature is an aspiration that will follow the whole harvested berry as it travels from the field to the customer.

So it seems as if we have finally arrived at the time when Devereux farm can send  UK Siberian sea buckthorn off to market. When will that start precisely? It looks like within three weeks – it is difficult to explain the emotion attached to having finally reached this point.