Photos of Hawthorn and How I Use Hawthorn

Hawthorn Leaves and Flowers

 

Hawthorn Haws

 Hawthorn Haws on the Food Dehydrator

 

Simmering Hawthorn Haws on Stove to Make Juice

 

Hawthorn Tree blossoming in the Springtime

 Dehydrated Hawthorn Haws in a Ziplock Bag

Leaves of the Hawthorn Tree

Hawthorn Haws on a Hawthorn Tree Ripe for Harvesting

 Close-up of Ripe Hawthorn Haws

Blossoms on a Hawthorn Tree

The Hawthorn herb I gather grows near this creek at the base of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.

I wash the herb after I harvest it.  The haws take quite a long time to clean and prepare.  I remove the stems, insects, green berries and berries that are partially unripe, moldy, etc.

The three parts of Hawthorn that I harvest are the flowers, the leaves and the haws (fruits).

The haws must be very ripe -- to their complete ripeness when I harvest them.  Otherwise, they are harder to clean and are too tart.

Juice I make from Hawthorn haws is delicious.  One year the berries were so ripe and sweet, I didn't need to add any sugar to the juice  I did add some lemon juice though.

Jelly is easy to make from the juice -- you follow directions that come with the Pectin -- boil the juice down to a syrup, add sugar, pectin, etc.  

I harvest the leaves which I dehydrate; they make a splendid green tea.

I make a tincture from the flowers and that is made with vodka or grain alcohol.