Autumn Olive is a superfood
Autumn olive berries have a high amount of Vitamin C. The Ruby red variety has more lycopene than even tomatoes.
I have autumn olive growing in my pasture, the Ruby Red, Amber (yellow), and the Punch Bowl varieties.
I harvested the berries in October and froze them for use in this recipe in the winter.
Autumn Olive Oxymel Recipe
Ingredients:
- Autumn olive berries
- Filtered, unchlorinated water
- Raw honey
- Vinegar – I use asparagus vinegar from my recipe on this page in Thriver.News.
Step 1 : Blend autumn olive and filtered water in a blender.
Step 2: Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds and debris:
Step 3: Add raw honey to taste.
I add as much honey as I like. Make sure it is raw honey!
Step 4: Add vinegar to taste, just to make it tangy.
This depends on how strong the vinegar is. Bragg’s apple cider vinegar is too strong for me, so I only add a few splashes. For my own vinegar, which is very mild (see recipe link above), I use a couple of tablespoons.
This oxymel can be used to boost your immunity when you feel a cold coming on. Drink a half cup twice a day.
Is Autumn Olive Invasive?
Some sites call Autumn Olive invasive. Some states outlaw it. Why?
Autumn Olive is a nitrogen fixing plant that is extremely vigorous. It may outperform other plants. Some sites say that autumn olive is spread by birds eating the berries and will take over a pasture. I have not seen that in my pasture nor in the Community Garden in town.
My autumn olive gets to be a very wide and tall bush, but I have not seen it spread. One of the Red Ruby varieties I have is somewhat thorny. But overall, it stays put. I do not eat the berries off the tree – I always process them into oxymel.
I have tried propagating autumn olive by cuttings. They initially do well but usually do not make it through the summer heat.
Try autumn olive in your food forest.
