SPONTANEOUS DIARY THE BLACKTHORN

Aaaahhh !!! The winter.

When you wake up in the morning, the sky is completely clear, the air pungent and everything is frozen.

Here, this is the magical moment of the blackthorn.

At the edge of woods and uncultivated fields, in the midst of brambles and stony places, there are the thorny branches of this spontaneous shrub that often forms dense and inaccessible hedges, which in spring however are a riot of white flowers that makes them particularly fascinating.

Only once the leaves have fallen, in autumn, the fruits appear but ripen with the first winter frosts. It is then that the characteristic harshness subsides and is a little more acceptable and pleasing to the palate. The fact remains, however, that it is so much tannic.

But those fruits, those small spherical drupes with a bluish and intense color, with a large and disproportionate seed in proportion to the little pulp, lend themselves to many uses. But once it has been eliminated, we have used this acidulous and astringent pulp, rich in healthy and invigorating substances, tannins and sugars, to make a jam.

In a few pots, because the blackthorn as well as never being particularly vigorous is also limited productive, and above all the production is not the same every year.

You can find it in the JAMS category, with some tips for use.