Harvesting Lingonberry Plants
Are you ready to enjoy delicious homegrown fruit? Harvest is the time to enjoy the results of your hard work. Keep a few things in consideration as you reap the fruits of your labor: the best time to pick the fruit from your tree, and how to store the fruit.
NOTE: This is part 11 in a series of 11 articles. For a complete background on how to grow lingonberry plants, we recommend starting from the beginning.
When to Harvest
You can start picking your berries the second year in late summer or fall (late September and October) once the berries are firm and fully red. The berries will ripen over several weeks so plan to pick more than once.
In warm climates, the berries may produce two harvests: one in mid-summer and one in mid-fall. The first harvest will be very small berries. Lingonberries are usually harvested by hand but you can also use a berry picker.
The annual average yield per plant is ½ to 1 pound.
Storage
Refrigerate immediately after picking your berries they will keep for a couple of weeks or freeze for later use.