In the archives of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, there is a manuscript from 1847 with a recipe that turns raspberries into “natural candy.”
The monks sprayed the bushes with a mixture of whey and linden honey a week before flowering.
Modern science explains: lactobacilli in whey suppress fungi, and honey contains invertase, an enzyme that breaks down sucrose into glucose and fructose.
In 2023, the journal "Fruit Growing" published data: berries treated with this solution contained 40% more sugar.
A recipe from the depths of centuries
- Mix 1 liter of whey (not pasteurized!) with 2 tbsp. honey.
- Add 5 liters of rainwater.
- Spray the bushes on a cloudy day, avoiding the flowers.
Why was the method banned in the USSR? In the 1930s, the country switched to chemical fertilizers, declaring natural methods "sabotage."
But the Old Believers of Siberia continued the tradition. Sergey from Kaluga said: "My grandfather taught me this recipe. The raspberries are so sweet that bees flock to them from a kilometer away!"
Important nuances
- Don't use store-bought whey - it doesn't contain any live bacteria. It's better to make your own: let the milk sour, then strain it.
- Honey must be natural. Counterfeits with sugar will cause the opposite effect - the berries will become sour.
- Treat only before flowering. If you spray later, the bees will eat the honey and damage the ovaries.
Modern life hack: Add 1 teaspoon of boric acid to the solution – it will increase the setting of berries. But do not overdo it: excess boron causes leaf burns.
Summer resident Tatyana from Ufa shared: "Raspberries used to be sour. I tried the monk's method - my grandchildren now call them "candy bush"!"
Scientists from the Michurinsk Agrarian University confirm that the combination of whey and honey increases the immunity of plants to powdery mildew. But they warn that the method does not replace potassium and phosphorus fertilization.
Author: Elena Shimanovskaya