When is the best time to collect birch brooms? Harvesting brooms for a bath: timing and how to harvest correctly

A broom for a bath is an essential attribute when going to the steam room. Without it, wellness procedures will be inferior. The service life also depends on the harvesting, selection of raw materials, drying, storage conditions. No less attention should be paid to the question of how to knit brooms for a bath. We will try to understand all the nuances in the article.

Why do you need a broom in the bath?

Brooms in the bath have been used since ancient times, about them medicinal properties there are legends. What is this attribute used for?

People say: “To beat yourself with a broom means to expel an ailment from the body!” And this is a true statement. Whipping with such an attribute is a kind of massage of the whole body. In addition, improves metabolism, blood flow and circulation, sweating. A broom helps open pores, bring out dirt, toxins, bacteria, microbes. The leaves themselves, which contain phytoncides, are also useful. Getting on skin, they act on pathogens, as a result of which they die. And essential oils stop aging.

Brooms made from various types of wood and plants even help fight serious diseases. Before choosing the right attribute, you need to learn about its healing properties.

Can you use a broom in the sauna?

When we prepare brooms for a bath, a logical question arises as to whether they can be used in a sauna. In order to deal with this, it is enough to find out the conditions that are created in the steam rooms.

In the bath, as you know, relatively slight temperature, but at the same time quite high humidity. Using a broom, you can achieve those conditions that will be favorable for your body. With this attribute, you can increase the load on the body by creating even more humidity in the steam room, which will contribute to profuse sweating and the removal of toxins.

In a sauna, conditions are reversed: temperatures are high and the air is dry. At the same time, the body experiences huge loads, and the use of a broom will only increase them. FROM low level moisture to achieve profuse sweating is very difficult. The blood begins to circulate rapidly, the heart to work with frantic force. In this case, the use of a broom is contraindicated so that there is no heart attack or stroke.

Bath brooms and their preparation: choosing the best time

It is advisable to start harvesting raw materials for brooms the next day after the Trinity, and finish on Ilyin's day. It is believed that during this period the leaves are juicy, soft and tender. You need to collect branches only in dry, warm weather, in the morning, after the dew has gone. Trees are recommended to be selected only in ecologically clean areas. The crown should be dense, and the branches not very thick.

Experienced bath attendants believe that a tree may not be suitable for a person. To understand whether it is yours or not, you need to bring a piece of foil to the trunk - if it sticks, then the broom must be prepared from this raw material.

We knit a strong broom

"How to knit brooms for a bath?" - perhaps main question among lovers of good steam. This attribute should be light, not very thick and massive, so that it is easier for them to wield. Therefore, raw materials for work must be chosen carefully. After the required number of branches has been accumulated, you can proceed to the process itself.

Their lower part must be completely cleared of leaves and branches, if any. Leave about 6 centimeters for the handle, so that it is comfortable to hold, and tie with a thick piece of twine or twine. Before this, you need to carefully distribute the branches: thick ones should be in the middle, and thin ones - along the edges of the beam. The lower part should be leveled so that all the branches are the same length. To give them a round shape, you can chop off protruding leaves with an ax.

The finished broom must be placed under heavy oppression and left there for a day. After that, the leaves will have the same flat shape. Also, brooms can be laid out on the floor and turned over from one side to the other every day. This process will take an average of a week. The main rule is not to stack them on top of each other, otherwise the foliage will become damp and the process of decay will begin.

Will a simple rope work?

When wondering how to make brooms for a bath, a special role should be given to attribute binding:

First you need to tie a place near the foliage. Thus, we will fix the branches of the broom so that they do not fall out when whipped. Then it is necessary to tightly tie the broom, leaving small distances between the twine. You need to do this until the very end of the broom.

You can use twine or construction twine.

The distance for the handle should not exceed 6 centimeters, otherwise the broom will not be connected enough and will quickly fall apart.

Such simple tips will help to increase the service life of the attribute, and there will be no questions about how to knit bath brooms correctly so that they are strong and reliable.

How to properly dry a broom

When going to the steam room, we want the effect of the visit to be maximum. Not only the temperature regime and air humidity affect this process, but also the attributes. What they should be, consider below.

In order for the steam room attribute to serve for a long time, you should know how to dry bath brooms. It is imperative to adhere to the rules, only then the fragrant "tool" will retain its healing properties, while the leaves will be dense, strong and with a good saturated color.

The main rule - ready-made brooms should dry well, but not in direct sunlight! The best place for these procedures is the attic. It is worth pulling a thick rope that would withstand more than one broom (and they are quite heavy when raw). Bunches are hung on it, you can in pairs. It is necessary to try to ensure that there is a distance between the manufactured products, so they dry faster. Typically, this takes a week. After all that has been done, the brooms are stacked (on top of each other) and periodically swapped. The bottom ones go up and vice versa.

When wondering how to dry bath brooms, you need to know a few rules:

avoid direct sunlight;

dry only in a cool dry place;

do not put brooms on top of each other, there must be a distance.

If the bundles are poorly dried, mold will go, rotting of branches and foliage will begin.

Not every broom is equally useful. Choose the right option for you

There are many types of brooms, they differ in the raw materials from which they are made. Consider the most popular:

Russian bath, oak broom - what else do you need for happiness? The aroma and essential oils of the branches and leaves of this tree help reduce blood pressure, normalize the work nervous system. Owners oily skin oak resins will help to narrow the pores, while the foci of inflammation, if any, will heal twice as fast.

Are you suffering from sciatica? Fir and juniper will help in the fight against this disease. A broom from these plants relieves fatigue in the muscles, spine, and is used for neurological diseases.

They think that the most the best brooms obtained from soft, flexible birch branches.

It is no coincidence that birch has been the most common in Rus' since time immemorial. But everyone has different preferences. Many people like to steam with oak or linden products. Which one is better? The debate continues to this day...

The harvesting process itself is not too complicated. But in order for the prepared broom to be suitable for the steam room, certain rules must be followed. Harvesting of birch brooms for a bath traditionally falls on the Trinity. But not everywhere the birch "ripens" everywhere, and not all types of wood are suitable for brooms. A tall tree with long, thin, straight branches is chosen - a weeping birch.

To know for sure whether the branches of this birch are suitable or not, you need to try the leaf with your tongue: if the leaf is rough, the tree does not fit. The leaf should be velvety, tender. In addition, the taste of the sheet also speaks about the preparation time. As soon as it ceases to be sweetish and begins to taste bitter, then the time for harvesting has come. Birches, from the branches and leaves of which brooms will be made, should not grow near roads, near enterprises or in the city center. It should be an ecologically clean area outside the city limits - clearings, edges, clearings. for the bath is carried out in the early morning hours after the dew has disappeared. It should be a careful cutting of extra branches. Basically, young, flexible, well-bending branches with small leaves are used.

Cut raw materials must be dried in the shade for an hour.

How to knit a broom

Dried branches at the base are stripped of leaves and knots and tied with twine. Thick branches are placed in the middle, and thin ones are wrapped around. The broom turns out thick. The handle is made 15-20 centimeters long. Related brooms are placed under oppression to acquire a flat fan shape until completely dry. Then the broom is suspended in a ventilated room for a couple of days. It is best to store brooms in a refrigerator, but if this is not possible, then in a well-ventilated cool room: attic, garage, balcony - for two years. Preparation of birch brooms for the bath is completed. Now it's time to go to the bath. But you need to take a dry product with you, and not just cooked.

We steam a broom

A dry birch broom is taken to the bathhouse in order to take a steam bath. By the way, fresh brooms do not steam, because they become limp, becoming heavy, and can burn the skin. Dry brooms are steamed: they are lowered for 5 minutes into a basin with cold, warm and, finally, hot water. A basin with hot water and a broom should be covered so that it is steamed. When you smell the fragrance essential oils from the broom, it can be removed. It is ready to work on your body, massaging it and improving blood circulation, cleansing respiratory system, making breathing easier for asthmatics and smokers, cleansing the skin well. It remains to wish you health and light steam with a birch broom!

There is nothing complicated in preparing bath brooms, but, like in every business, there are some nuances: you need to know when it is better to knit bath brooms, which branches to choose, how long they should be, how to keep brooms for the whole year without losing quality .

• 1 When to knit bath brooms
  • 1.1 When harvested birch brooms
  • 1.2 Harvest oak brooms
  • 1.3 When to cut lime brooms
  • 1.4 Preparation of coniferous brooms: spruce, juniper
  • 1.5 How to prepare nettle brooms
• 2 How to choose branches for a bath broom
• 3 How to knit brooms for a bath
• 4 Proper drying
• 5 How to store bath brooms

Our ancestors prepared raw materials for bath brooms in the first half of June - on Trinity Day after Green Christmas. If you are far from church calendars and rituals, collect branches in early June, when the foliage has already grown and strengthened, but has not yet become faded and withered.

You can knit brooms for a bath yourself

For church holidays or calendar dates, you can only navigate by region: our country is large. Somewhere on Trinity it is already almost summer, but somewhere the leaves have barely hatched. So it’s better to focus on the state of the foliage.

When birch brooms are harvested

Not so much time is allotted for harvesting birch brooms: a maximum of a week. It is necessary to have time to prepare birch branches when the leaf has already turned green, and not light green, but before the earrings bloom. If time is missed, the foliage becomes very stiff and falls heavily in the bath. So the term for harvesting birch brooms is very short.

But time is not the only criterion. When choosing branches for a birch broom, you need to navigate by appearance sheet. It should have a dense green color, the plate should be even. There should be no aphids, no other pests or diseases. But, most importantly, there should not be earrings on the branches. And for a greater effect, you need to cut birch branches on a broom in the specified interval, but after the rain. Only the birch must already be dry, otherwise, when steaming, the leaf will darken and curl up.

More advice from the older generation: cut a broom when a leaf on a birch is no larger than an old five-kopeck coin, and it should be slightly glued to the touch.

For birch brooms, choose young trees growing in the sun on a hillock or near a pond

But with sticky leaves you get a "soap broom". It affects the skin just fine: it becomes silky and soft. But at the same time, leave the steam room with skin covered with mucus. Not everyone likes this feeling. So choose here: either a more comfortable feeling with more “mature” foliage or elastic skin.

Birch brooms harvested in May smell differently than summer brooms: they add a smell very similar to the smell of propolis. At this time, there are light stripes on the skin of the twigs, which give off this aroma. Not all branches have such stripes; they must be selected separately. Running your hand along such a branch, you feel the tubercles - these are the very resinous odorous secretions. If someone has not tried - try. Very pleasant sensations, although the sheet is sticky at this time.

Some sauna lovers especially appreciate birch brooms that grew near water - rivers or lakes (but not in a swamp). In such plants, the branches are long, elastic and flexible. Good twigs growing roots or stumps of birches. They are flexible, resilient and tender.

Branches for a broom should have two or three branches

On trees, the lower climbing shoots are considered the best. They are cut for a broom. It is better not to cut single young ones without side branches, even despite a large, beautiful and dense leaf: a whip is obtained. And this is not at all what is required from a bath broom.

If the tree is young, you do not need to cut more than two or three pieces - you can harm the plant. Know the measure - take care of nature!

Old people who love the bath say that even in a birch grove you can not take branches for a broom from every tree. But only from those whose birch bark on the trunk, as it were, shines a little. Moreover, the spots on the birch bark are not gray, but rather brownish. There are not very many such trees, but they do exist. Try to find at least a few and fold the branches separately. Then evaluate the difference and next time you will not regret the time.

Birch foliage when harvesting brooms should be dense and smooth. Someone advises to try birch leaf language. If it is rough, the branch is not good, if it is smooth and velvety, it is an excellent raw material.

Separately growing young trees are an excellent choice

You can navigate along the leg of a young birch leaf. If it has already become reddish, you can cut it, and if it is green, it’s too early.

The video shows how to choose birch branches and knit brooms from them correctly.

We prepare oak brooms

The term for harvesting oak brooms is longer: starting from the end of June, and some harvest in August and early September. Depends on year and region. But even in the same region, year to year is very different. In some areas you have to hurry: later the foliage is affected by diseases, becomes lethargic or spotty. But sometimes, after being hit by diseases in August-September, the foliage on the oak grows again. That's when you can also get excellent brooms.

When harvesting an oak broom in summer, pay attention to the condition of the leaf: it should be an even dense green color, without spots. The main rule: there should not be an acorn yet. As with birch harvesting, branched shoots with a large leaf are taken.

But there are lovers who harvest an oak broom in September. In this case, the leaf turns yellow or yellow. They say it also works very well.

Bath gourmets value oak brooms made from tree branches, near which burdock grew. Their shoots are considered the most durable and flexible. Trees should grow in shady corners of the forest and be young: on old ones it is difficult to find non-knotted branches of sufficient length. Foliage should be large and abundant.

Chopped oak branches should lie down a little in the shade

The harvesting of oak brooms has its own specifics:

• firstly, cut branches are folded for an hour and a half in a shady place, and only then they can be transported;
• secondly, after the oak broom is tied, it is necessary to put oppression on it to give it the shape of a fan - this form is the most common, but some people prefer traditional spherical oak brooms.

If you want a linden broom with color, you have a week and a half to prepare. And that's at the expense different breeds blooming at different times. In general, the best period is when most of the flowers have already opened. The aroma then in the bath is amazing.

Linden with color smells amazing, but they won’t be able to “work” normally - the leaf is soft

There is a linden broom and a later harvest. He also has a deadline of two weeks - from August 15 to September 1. So say experts who claim that in the lime branches collected earlier, of course, there are more useful substances, but the sheet on them is too soft and, when steamed, twists and wrinkles so that it is absolutely impossible for them to steam.

Preparation of coniferous brooms: spruce, juniper

The "widest collection range" of conifers. There are no restrictions here. In Siberia, coniferous brooms are made both in the most severe frosts and in summer ...

Choose a warm, fine, dry day for harvesting. Cut off the branches begin after the dew dries. Choose young and flexible. There are no other recommendations.

It looks scary, but they say that with proper processing it is tolerated even by delicate skin.

How to prepare nettle brooms

Despite the "terrible" pungency, you only need to try the nettle broom. Then you will really like them to bathe. Harvesting them for the winter is problematic, except to insert a few branches into birch and oak trees. No other way. But fresh can be steamed all summer.

Cut off young shoots without color, about 40-50 cm long. It is made short and fluffy. It is better to work with gloves: it burns. It turns out it is quite soft: only for one person.

Nettle broom. Sounds even scarier than spruce. But the benefits are the sea

There are quite a few ways to park a nettle broom. Basically, they are dipped in hot (not boiling) water for 3-5 seconds, then in cold water. All.

The second option is to dip in cold water, then after steaming out, trample on it in the steam room with your feet, hold it over the steam, giving in a ladle of water.

Regardless of how you cook a broom, they need to “work” on the already steamed body. That is, you first need to steam out birch.

There is one point in using a nettle broom: it strongly stains the wood. Therefore, it is better not to put it on the shelves. Bring a mat, put it on it.

All other brooms (and what they are, and how they affect the body, read in the article “How to steam a broom for a bath”) are collected in the same timeframe as birch brooms until August 2.

If you want to tie a broom of herbs, you need to know the timing of its flowering - at this time they have the highest concentration of nutrients.

Brooms from medicinal plants spread a magical aroma and dry

How to choose branches for a bath broom

They cut branches from young trees that grow in sunny, wetlands, away from roads and enterprises with harmful emissions.

The length of the branches is selected depending on the selected size of the broom. Usually it is from 40 to 70-80cm. Who is comfortable. Similarly, the thickness of the handle is selected. The diameter rarely exceeds 5 cm - it is difficult to wave too large and heavy, although it is a matter of taste and habit.

The diameter of a comfortable broom does not exceed 5 cm

Branches should be smooth, free of disease and withered parts. The foliage is thick and juicy, not too hard. It is advisable to choose branches with two or three branches - the broom will not only be more magnificent and beautiful, it will also be denser, it will be good to “capture” the steam. Walking with such a broom over the body, you do not whip it, but massage it.

How to knit brooms for a bath

Having picked up suitable branches, they can be immediately collected into brooms. Some bath lovers advise pre-soaking them for several days in an unlit, well-ventilated place. They say the branches need to be “withered”. It is easier to work with them then.

Thicker shoots are located inside, thinner outside. If there is a bend on the branches (and most often it happens), then the bend should look inward. Also, make sure that the matte surface of the sheet is directed inward, and the shiny surface is directed outward. It should turn out so that their shiny side is directed in one direction. When folding, give the shape of a fan or "bouquet" - they do it differently. The broom-fan is more common: it seems to hug the body. Feelings are pleasant.

The easiest way is to tightly tie a broom with natural twine at the butt and at the beginning of the foliage

For the handle, the foliage is removed from the bottom. Its length is chosen individually, but the most optimal, established empirically, is two palm widths. It is also necessary to expose the butt of branches so that the brooms are better preserved during use. If everything is done correctly, then one broom can be enough for two trips to the steam room.

When folding the branches, they are turned over and shaken several times so that they are more evenly distributed. For knitting, it is better to use natural materials: dense twine, hemp rope, medical bandage or other similar materials. It is better not to use metal wire: it heats up in the bath and it is very inconvenient to hold such a broom in your hands.

There are several knitting techniques:

Used for knitting and clamps. Some are plastic, some are metal. They quickly tighten the handle, hold tight. And after shrinkage, it will be possible to tighten. So that all these puffs do not rub your hand, then they wrap the handle with a thick cotton tape: it is sold in hardware stores, sometimes in hardware or haberdashery. You can wrap the handle with a thick cotton rope (after using a broom, you can remove it and tie the next one).

There are many more ways to knit brooms. Someone uses marine knots, which make it possible to tighten the rope after shrinkage, someone puts two parts of the branches crosswise with butts, then ties them not very tightly, then connects the two parts with effort and ties them completely at the butt, and above. Almost every master has his own secrets. But they are very reluctant to share. Try simple methods first, then adjust as you like. There will be your personal method of knitting a bath broom.

Proper drying

No matter how you knit brooms, they still need to be dried. They are immediately stacked in a heap, one on top of the other. So they lie for a day or two. They flatten out under their own weight. Then they can be tied in pairs, and hung on a rope or pole in a dark, well-ventilated room.

If there is no attic, you can dry in the corridor: you can’t sunlight hit the leaves. But this method is available even to the townspeople.

If it is possible to hang brooms in the attic, they can be tied in pairs (without cutting off the remaining twine for tying) and hung to dry on poles. The best brooms are obtained under a double roof: the heat will not “burn” the leaf, but will dry it out. But ventilation must be good. If there is no such “luxury” as your own attic, you can hang a broom on a carnation in a well-ventilated place. In any case, you need to find a room where direct sunlight does not fall on it. Only in such conditions the leaf remains green and does not fall off.

Dry brooms hung on a pole or rope in pairs

With any drying method, brooms should not be placed close to one another - there should be free space between them. At first, in order for the branches and foliage to dry evenly, they need to be turned over once or twice a day. When they are completely dry, they can be stored away.

How to store bath brooms

Dried brooms can be stacked on a bookcase or shelf (again, the room must be dry and well ventilated). But from time to time brooms need to be shifted so that those that were below are in the middle or at the top. Moreover, light should not fall on the brooms: the leaf will turn yellow.

Brooms wrapped in film can be frozen. Good for those who have a freezer at home

If you have your own hayloft, you can stack brooms on dry hay, placing them loosely together. Top with dry hay. This is how our ancestors kept them.

For the inhabitants of apartments, there is also a storage method: make small holes in a cardboard box, put brooms into it without crushing, alternating the handle and crown. In this case, you also need to periodically shift them, lifting the lower ones up.

You can also store brooms in the refrigerator: they are packed in a plastic bag or wrapped in cling film, put on the bottom shelf, in a dark, dry corner.

As you can see, tie yourself Banya broom not difficult. But this is only the beginning. Brooms, even the most wonderful, can be spoiled by steaming it incorrectly. How to avoid such trouble, read here. Do not forget to read the article, "How to take a steam bath in the bath."

The first step is to know when to knit birch brooms. This is very important point, because the tree saps that nourish the leaves accumulate in in large numbers only at a certain time. In Rus', this was done after the Trinity. But since Russia is a large country with different climatic zones, the leaves ripen differently everywhere. It is necessary to use several methods for determining the readiness of birch. Taste the leaf, if it is bitter - feel free to knit brooms. Pull on the edge of the birch leaf, if it came off at the tip (and not with the stem), then it's time to prepare the brooms.

Carefully choose the location of birch groves. In no case do not harvest brooms from a tree by the side of the road. It is desirable that the grove is located away from the roadway, located on the edge of the forest. Choose branches with medium and small leaves. Such a broom will turn out to be thicker and more flexible, and the leaves will not immediately fall off, they will last a long time.

Preparation of bath brooms

Birch brooms are especially popular among sauna lovers. They are valued for the softness, flexibility, suppleness and freshness of essential oils. Brooms are made from thin, flexible and straight branches. It is desirable that the leaves are not damaged. Select side branches and carefully cut them (50-60 centimeters long). Tie the cut branches into a bundle with twine, put the thicker ones inside, the thin ones on the sides. The thickness of the handle in diameter should be about 5 centimeters.

And now about drying birch brooms. Hang the brooms on a pole or rope, tying them in pairs. Never dry them in the sun. Hang brooms in the attic or under a canopy in the shade. Can be dried on a shaded balcony (not glazed, otherwise the leaves will curl up and quickly crumble when used). Store dried brooms lying down, stacked on top of each other. Thanks to this, they will acquire a fan shape that is convenient to use and will not dry out.

Change the brooms from time to time. This must be done so that the lower branches are not covered with mold. Check the handles - are they loose, is the broom falling apart? If necessary, pull both ends of the rope, tie in a knot, the winding will be tight again. There is no limit to the ingenuity of the Russian people. Some people keep brooms in a haystack. They are simply placed in the hay with the handle facing out. And when they go to the bathhouse, they simply pull a broom out of the haystack by the protruding handle.

In bathing science, a Russian person cannot have trifles. Moreover, if we are talking about a bath broom made of birch branches, then it simply does not turn out to be a trifle to call it a trifle. It is important to know when to harvest birch brooms for a bath in 2019 so that the brooms are of the best quality.
It is difficult to imagine a full-fledged trip to the bathhouse without a broom. It should be not only beautiful in appearance, but also strong. It is for this reason that birch branches must be collected from the tree in their special season, when they have a lot of juice and strength. Also useful in summer.

• How to understand that the time has come
• How to properly tie a broom

How to understand that the time has come

About the correct preparation of brooms

It is best to collect those branches that are closer to the ground;
Harvesting should be carried out exclusively in warm and dry weather;
The branches that are closest to the ground are the youngest. It is they who are needed for the preparation of strong brooms;
If the foliage is wet, then when the product is dried, it will become dark and curl, which is very bad for the quality of the broom;
Wet branches collected in a broom can quickly fly around;
If it is wrong to collect branches for a broom, then a birch bath broom will lose most of its useful properties;
It is also important to choose the right birch from which you will take twigs. The ideal option is the one when the branches from a young tree are collected. In general, it is ideal if the tree has not yet bloomed even once, and its leaves are tender and silky.
The birch itself should be beautiful and even, it should not have growths: after all, trees, like people, are susceptible to various diseases. In a diseased tree, foliage and twigs will also be weak and will not bring the maximum benefit that every person expects from going to a Russian bath.

Advice!
No need to collect branches from birch trees that grow next to the roads. They absorb dirt from cars. So, it is best to go for blanks in the forest or a clean grove. Ideally, if the birch will grow near a stream or river.

How to properly tie a broom