Scientific Name: Crataegus monogyna
Family: Rose
Scientific Family: Rosaceae
How to identify Hawthorn Download your free seed harvest handbook
Picking
The scarlet berries should be picked from the beginning of October onwards. If you pick them too early, you risk the seeds being immature. Collect the bunches directly from the tree by gripping the branch below the bunch and pulling. In this way, no damage is caused to the parts of the tree that will continue to grow. A large number of berries can be collected in a short time.
Extraction and storage
Berries can be stored in buckets or bread baskets for a week or two provided they are kept in a cool, dry place.
Hawthorn is perhaps one of the easiest of the berry fruits to extract seed from. You need a bucket or two, a flat-bottomed pole (for example, an old sawn-off spade handle), a sieve or collander and access to a hosepipe or water supply. The berries are mashed and the waste and seed separated through the sieve. For a more complete description click here.