Planning on a big autumn olive harvest

going to have a great crop. what month do you harvest them? here its late sept/ early oct once frost hits them.

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It can change from one year to the next but August/September/October/November depending on the bush since mine are all genetically unique.

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When I was out mowing today, I noticed our AO in the backyard has some fruit on it. Not very big fruit, about the size of pencil eraser, but had a decent flavor. I imagine I’ll need to harvest them soon or the birds will strip the tree soon.

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That’s as big as they get but I just put a bowl under the limb and use my hand and strip them by the hundreds in the bowl at once.

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small kiddie pool w/ a slit cut halfway thru works good. tap on the tree with a small bat and they fall right off when ripe.

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Jealous…

mine never get that much fruit… Do you prune heavily?

Scott

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Don’t prune at all unless they are encroaching on something else or I need them to mulch another tree.

These are loaded!

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What are they?

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im jealous!

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They are a tart berry somewhat like a sour cherry but about the size of a B.B…Similar to buffalo berries in many ways.

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They are an Asian shrub that was introduced and took over. The best I can describe the taste is like a sweet tart candy. These are all over the place here. The Connecticut DOT planted them alongside highways in the mid-20th century and they are EXTREMELY invasive. Autumn olive thickets can form and the bushes just get completely loaded with the fruit. One of them is near Ocean State Job Lot in Griswold, CT in a spot that appears to have been set aside for future expansion of the shopping center.

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I’ve heard they are very invasive in some states but in Kansas they are hanging on but not spreading.

My autumn berry are not quite ripe yet and the evening temps have been falling into the 40’s. Soon will be what is called Indian summer here where we get a warm up for a short time which hopefully allows the berries to ripen. Typically daytime highs get into the 80’s but it will be short lived.

That’s what I said about the first fruit set of the tree I planted two years ago. There were about 100 berries on it. Three days later I checked and there was zero. Now I know how much the birds like them.

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We are still eating autumn berries! Should have juiced some of these there were so many!

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got a big bowlfull off my bush 2 weeks ago. would have got more if the top above the snowline didn’t winter kill last winter. any one tells you they are z3 hardy, well they aren’t and only marginally hardy to z4. i ate them strait up and i love the taste! hopefully my bush gets tougher to the cold over time.

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Birds love them here. They ate every berry. I then went to an area where wild ones grow thinking I might find a good tasting one. Again every berry had been eaten

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cannot believe anyone wants this invasive monster! in michigan,we have whole tracks of land taken over by the autumn olive. cattle pastures, hayfields, its everywhere!

I’m told the autumn berry are very invasive in some places but with just a few more inches of rain than a dessert this year they are not making any invasions in Kansas. We do however have a huge problem with elms, wild honeysuckle, multiflora rose to name a few. Callery pear are now adapting slowly to our environment and within a few years may start to grow like mulberry . Autumn olives seem good at adaptation and in some areas get them on the invasive list.