How to Harvest Saw Palmetto

The saw palmetto or cabbage palm (Serenoa repens) grows naturally from South Carolina west to Texas. The plant's berries can alleviate bladder, urinary and genital problems, and have been used to treat the prostate inflammation in benign prostatic hyerplasia. Saw palmetto was historically a Native American food source and natural medicine for many conditions. While saw palmetto capsules are inexpensive and available at your nearby pharmacy, if you have trees growing locally you can harvest and dry the berries yourself.

Basket
Food dehydrator (optional)
Mesh screen (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Find a saw palmetto tree in the spring and positively identify it. Saw palmetto trees reach no more than 10 feet tall by 2-and-1/2 feet wide. The trees have three to seven leaves that are fan shaped and end in a sharp point. In spring, they have white flowers.
- 2
  Watch for berries to develop in the summer and ripen through the fall. Saw palmetto berries are cream with a rust-colored tint. As they ripen, berries get softer and turn blue-black. When they have fully changed color and feel soft, they're ready for picking.
- 3
  Pick the berries from the tree to harvest them.
- 4
  Dry your berries in a fruit dehydrator or by naturally drying. To naturally dry them, place the berries on screens and place the screens outdoors in the sun. Leave the berries outside until they dehydrate, shrivel and dry.

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