The author of the article is Dominika Maciąg
A few years ago, a friend of mine, who was struggling with a serious disease, interested me in the fruits of olive, barberry and actinidia. Consuming them has a positive he alth-promoting effect. In Asia, they are considered medicinal foods.Intrigued, I got these plants for my garden and I would like to interest your readers with them.
Everyone knows barberries. There are many species, but not all of them have tasty fruit. You can make syrups, preserves, tinctures from barberry or simply dry the fruit to prepare a strengthening tea in winter.
Species with the most recognized edible values are: boxwood barberry Berberis buxifolia, Darwin barberry Berberis darwinii, Kashmiri barberry Berberis lycium, Canadian barberry Berberis canadensis and common barberry Berberis vulgaris.
Kiwi Berry is a vigorously growing climber, well known in Ukraine and Russia. It is slowly gaining popularity with us. We can easily buy its varieties. It is a close relative of the New Zealand kiwi, which we usually buy in stores.Its fruits are much smaller but sweeter. The taste is a bit like gooseberries.For preserves and raw food, they do not need to be peeled from the mossy skin. They ripen in autumn.
If we want actinidia to provide us with fruit, we must plant male and female individuals. I have one copy of them each. And a several-year-old, overgrown bush provides a satisfactory amount of fruit. Actinidia grows best on fairly fertile, well-drained, acidic soils.We must provide it with a warm and sheltered position. However, young specimens may freeze in winter, so I cover them thoroughly with non-woven fabric.
The narrow-leaved variety Elaeagnus angustifolia with silvery-gray leaves is most often grown in Poland.It is planted as a drought-resistant and decorative shrub.Its fruits are edible and sweet, though fibrous and mealy. I definitely recommend other types of olive trees as fruit shrubs, for example: Elaeagnus multiflora, Elaeagnus umbellata, or Elaeagnus x ebbingei evergreen. They're hard to get, but luckily, we'll find everything on the Internet these days.
Anthocyanins as a source of he alth
These are branchy shrubs growing up to 2-3 meters. They have quite modest soil requirements. However, they need cross-pollination, so it's best to plant two specimens in one place.Olives ripen well in the sun.We collect fruits that are very ripe, juicy, red, with a pleasant, sour taste.They contain vitamins A, C and E and unsaturated fatty acids. They can be used to make compotes, jams, marmalades and juices. I personally like jam the most because it goes well with sweet pancakes.
I encourage all bush lovers to grow at least one of these exotic plants.
