Elderberry Time is here NWI
 

Hi folks been a while since ive been here, but im back and now I am dabling in Elderberrys hahaha.

I was sick early in the year and wanted to cure a bad cold, but I didnt want to go to the doctor. So off I went to the internet and ran smack dab into Elderberry syrup. I read and read and went through a amazing amount of documents all praising this bush, so off I went to the drug store and purchased Elderberry syrup and Elderberry in pill form. Three days later the cold was knocked out to the point of not noticing it. I am now a believer in Elderberry syrup.

I remember my grandmothers Elderberry jelly / jam and thought it was just really good. I never could have guessed it was for health reasons as well.

The Elderberrys are almost ready to pick here in North West Indiana, some are ripe but most are very close. I plan on picking a Huge amount so that I can make enough syrup and jelly to last till the following season.

If you have never thought about Elderberrys for health please do yourself a favor and look into this. The medicinal value of this berry is immense.

I tried the elderberry syrup (from the drugstore) last year when I had a nagging cold. While it was EXTREMELY tastey I am not sure it did anything for me. I would like to think it did and would definitely use it for all sorts of things if I had an elderberry tree readily available! :)

I was thinking about making elderberry jam this year - is it tasty?

The first time I made elderberry jelly I didn't know you were supposed to cut the elderberry juice with apple juice to make a 50/50 mixture. That jelly was so dark that you couldn't see light through the jar, but it was so darned good!

I hope to make some in the coming years. My plants are still small. Plus I'm moving, so it sucks. By the time they are big enough I'll have to move! Well not for three more years. I like the plants too as ornamentals. The variegated and purple ones are cool looking plants for the landscape. They produce edible berries, but not in any great quanity. I have both, for production and for looks. Two different variegated cultivars.
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Yes Elderberry jelly is very good. Or at least my grandmothers was, I haven't made any yet this will be my first time making it. hahaha The trick about Elderberry is that its a immune booster and if you are already dead sick it helps but its not a wham bam cure it takes some time. Its way better to start taking it as soon as you notice your sick and not wait till your dead sick. Also as it is a immune booster a daily dose during the week and not during the weekend will keep your immune system stronger so that you wont get sick in the first place. There are official studies of this plant and its effects on influenza strain A and B and the studies show it does shorten the time of recovery. Do your own research and you will be pleased at what you find out about this berry.

Elton John has a song singing praise to Elderberry Wine...."Drunk all the time, feeling fine, on elderberry wine." I guess that could qualify as a healthful use of elderberries since it made him feel fine. I really like the song either way.:dizzy:

In my family, we have elderberry pie at the big family occasions. Its my grandfathers favorite and never lasts long. One of these days I'll have to try my hand at growing them, but probably not until I own my own home.

My friend owns the local garden center in town and 3 years ago, I had her order me a bush, as well as 2 more for the holistic center owner and the health food store owner (lol, I'm a good salesperson!). Having read about, and tried the syrup, I decided to grow my own.

They say you need 2 or more to get a lot of fruit, nonsense. I have one. It took 3 seasons, but this year I was so completely overrun with berries the branches were bending to the ground, no kidding! The birds usually have a field day there. This year I was able to not only take about 40 flower clusters to make vodka with (not sure I enjoy the flowers as much as the berries lol), but I still took 2 gallon zip lok bags of berries and froze them. I still left a bunch for the birds. Now I have a baby bush or two growing right along side. I think it needs to be thinned out or something. I cut it way back last year and maybe this is why it got so big.

Anyhow, I have made elderberry jam and syrup. I like the jam mixed with pineapple juice better than just berries. Watermelon is good too. I'm still wondering what to do with them but they are frozen for the moment. Pie sounds pretty yummy!

You must cook the berries, and they are a a bit tough to chew on, but I've had european style berry jam with them whole in it. You can boil the heck out of it and use the juice though. VERY tart and very strong flavored. Mine were ripe around last week of July here in NJ.

Do you have a good recipe for jam?

let me look in my other computer and see if I made any notes and then I"ll share it :)

the berries freeze beautifully but cook immediately after taking out of freezer or they get really limp and icky looking lol.

Well I am in the process of refining my elderberry syrup wellness recipe. So far the ingredients i'm using are as follows: Elderberries, Rose hips, Ginger, True Cinnamon, Clove and Tupelo Raw Honey. There are tons of other things you can add but I wanted something simple for a all around general wellness syrup.

I never had Tupelo Honey before and all I have to say is omg wow, I love this honey! If you never have tried Tupelo Honey..... try it

I've heard about it being really good for colds, and I've been thinking about
buying some plants for a couple years now. Haven't taken the plunge yet.
I did receive some seeds in a swap, but that may take 10 years for fruit.:lol:
Maybe I'll buy some plants online, like I did with my blueberry plants.

I remember my mom when we moved to the farm in Missouri.

I can see her now running around on the place saying, Oh my huckleberries, elderberries, goose berries, raspberries black berries, lambs quarters, poke salad, mushrooms,
You would have thought she had went to heaven.

She knew every plant and berry you could eat on the place and surrounding area.

I think the first homemade wine I ever had was homemade elderberry wine when I was 8 or 9.
I was always allowed one or two glasses with my meal.:yes:

Worth

[QUOTE=Worth1;440090]I remember my mom when we moved to the farm in Missouri.

I can see her now running around on the place saying, Oh my huckleberries, elderberries, goose berries, raspberries black berries, lambs quarters, poke salad, mushrooms,
You would have thought she had went to heaven.

She knew every plant and berry you could eat on the place and surrounding area.

I think the first homemade wine I ever had was homemade elderberry wine when I was 8 or 9.
I was always allowed one or two glasses with my meal.:yes:

Worth[/QUOTE]

My grandmother would have me pick poke for poke salads for her. I will do a proper post on organic bush craft. The subject needs to be done and maybe even its own forum section because of the vast amount of information. I think everyone here at Tomatoville is interested in being healthy. I personally want to cut out all the gmos and chemicals and pure evil out of my diet that I can and use natural remedies when possible.