Already red, but are the rowan berries ready to enjoy?
The photograph shows dense clusters of bright red rowan berries, just the sight that tempts people to start picking in early September. The question is not whether they are ripe, but when they become worth eating.
This is rowan, and the berries have developed enough colour to be picked now. In Hartungviken, Sweden, on 1 September, it is not too early to harvest them for jelly, jam or other cooked uses.
Eating them as they are is a different matter. Rowan berries are often astringent and bitter before a touch of frost. Many people therefore wait until after the first frost or freeze the berries for a couple of days for a similar effect on flavour before using them.
Choose clusters of evenly red, firm berries without shrivelling or dark, spoiled fruit. You can taste a single berry from the tree you are picking, as flavour varies between rowans. To use them now, the next step is freezing or cooking rather than expecting them to taste good raw.
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