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Post by mzgarden on Aug 10, 2018 18:32:51 GMT
Been watching my 2year old bushes closely. Today, the tops (>12 feet) were full of little happy birds. That's my cue. Harvested nearly a full gallon bucket of black berries and they're on the stove simmering with grated ginger, cinnamon and clove. Honey to be added when cooled and then stored away for colds and flu protection. I should get another picking out of them as well, but not as much the 2nd time around.
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Post by feather on Aug 10, 2018 18:46:48 GMT
If I had known you grow them, I'd have asked you to sell me some dehydrated ones like I bought on amazon! Sometime in the next year I'm going to need some annatto seeds. They come from the lipstick plant and it grows well in florida. If I knew someone with decorative lip stick plants I'd ask for a lb or 1/2 of seed. I use it for cheese.
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Post by mzgarden on Aug 10, 2018 23:08:36 GMT
feather, If I get another worthwhile harvest, I can try to dehydrate them and let you know how it goes. I've always used them fresh, but happy to try something new.
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Post by Use Less on Aug 11, 2018 0:07:33 GMT
I haven't taken a close look around here yet. Some years there are bushes full of wild berries, other years are a wash. It has been very hot. Wonder if that affected fruit retention.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 11, 2018 5:04:22 GMT
Most information on elderbarry pollination calls for 2 varieties required. That would mean that the flowers are self-incompatible. That would explain why there are good and bad years. All wild plants are actually hybrids and thus can pollinate each other.
Martin
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Aug 11, 2018 13:41:50 GMT
We'll be harvesting our 30 bushes next week. We've got plenty of syrup canned from previous years, so this year we're going to try our hands at wine. If the preacher stops by we'll explain the medicinal uses.
The Missouri State Nursery sells starter plants for next to nothing, just have to get your order in early. They've got a great program, when we first moved here our 2 acre back yard was an open pasture, and we wanted trees for privacy mainly. We got mix of 150 starter pines/oak/gum for a grand total of $52.46 including shipping.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 11, 2018 14:14:19 GMT
Just as with apples, doesm't have to be another tree or bush nearby. Just needs to be one upwind as the pollen will travel for miles. Especially so with elderberries as the blossoms and pollen are so tiny.
Martin
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Post by Skandi on Aug 11, 2018 21:31:19 GMT
We get so many elderberries and I leave them all to the birds, we have a large bush in the chicken pen it probably produces 10-20lb every year, they like it. I picked 30lb of flowers this year, and it seems to make no difference to how many berries we get. I cannot stand the taste of the berries though, they taste metalic to me.
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Post by paquebot on Aug 12, 2018 0:45:24 GMT
The only good use that I have found for them is wine. Made some good batches over the years. Has to be bottled in brown bottles or it will turn brown. Once found a huge stand of a red variety which is apparently very scarce. Went back the next year and they were under a Menard's parking lot.
Hot tip to separate berries from stems. Freeze them in paper bags. When frozen, shake them real good and the berries fall off. No purple fingers!
Martin
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Post by Deleted on Aug 12, 2018 1:46:26 GMT
We get so many elderberries and I leave them all to the birds, we have a large bush in the chicken pen it probably produces 10-20lb every year, they like it. I picked 30lb of flowers this year. [ What do you pick the flowers for? Thanks.
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Post by Skandi on Aug 12, 2018 12:06:56 GMT
We get so many elderberries and I leave them all to the birds, we have a large bush in the chicken pen it probably produces 10-20lb every year, they like it. I picked 30lb of flowers this year. [ What do you pick the flowers for? Thanks. Elderflower cordial. You can also make champagne with them, so many things come flavoured with elderflower here, sweets, cordials, jellies.. Danes do have a old traditional soup made from the berries too.
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Post by dw on Aug 15, 2018 2:46:03 GMT
I have been watching my two big plants so the birds didn't win. We had a microburst and it broke off the top (full of berries). There are still more. I want them for medicinal purposes but have not decided how to preserve them. Ideas?
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Post by mzgarden on Aug 15, 2018 11:36:21 GMT
Here's what I do- First harvest is usually the biggest. I 'rub' the ripe berries off the flower head into a bucket. This leaves most of the green berries behind to ripen for a 2nd harvest. I pour the berries into a colander/strainer and rinse them, then I float the colander it in a larger bucket. The green berries, sticks, etc. will float to the top and I skip them off. Drain and put the berries in a kettle/pot with 2 parts water to 1 part berries, about 10 whole cloves and cinnamon. I simmer them (not boil) for 45 minutes and then use a stick blender and pulse the berries a bit. I let them sit to cool down to just warm, drain off the particulate through a fine mesh sieve. I stir in local raw honey to taste, pour into jars and refrigerate. A few days later, the green berries I left on the flower heads have turned black and I go get those berries - at this point I generally snip off the flower head, rinse them off and freeze. The berries are easier to separate from the plant this way. I make more juice and freeze that batch. This year I'm going to try dehydrating some berries because my honey guy has promised me some late summer buckwheat honey, which I like for treating a cough/upper respirator, so that will be my second batch (hopefully).
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2018 14:19:07 GMT
Can't stop them from growing here. If you cut them back, they come back even stronger. The best ones are the volunteers that came up alongside the compost bins. I have a few trays in the dehydrator right now. Ozarks Tom, if you're planning to make elderberry wine, be sure to mix some grape juice in with it. Elderberries on their own have a certain... can't call it funk, but it's just something that does better when mixed with another fruit.
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Post by dustawaits on Aug 15, 2018 16:39:58 GMT
Have a friend that put in several acres of elderberry. These are on contract with a pharmaceutical company...... Beautiful plants they are of certain variety. They got $7000 for the first picking.
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Post by vickilynn on Aug 15, 2018 18:20:46 GMT
When I was a kid, elderberries grew along the railroad tracks, and we harvested many. Made jelly, and pies, and juice. We used a wide-tooth comb to gently comb the berries off.
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Post by feather on Aug 28, 2018 16:01:40 GMT
feather , If I get another worthwhile harvest, I can try to dehydrate them and let you know how it goes. I've always used them fresh, but happy to try something new. mzgarden, thank you for the dehydrated elderberries. I did compare the one's I bought from amazon to yours. They were identical in size and both sets were clean (few to no sticks). Same color. I couldn't tell the difference.......I took pictures which I'll post this afternoon.
They run $18-$32/lb dried bought from Amazon, Frontier is the producer/importer.
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Post by feather on Aug 29, 2018 1:09:07 GMT
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Post by mzgarden on Aug 29, 2018 2:05:26 GMT
feather, thanks, glad to know my berries are similar to the store bought ones - never knew they were so expensive. I may have to put in a few more bushes. Thanks for being willing to 'test' them out.
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Post by feather on Aug 29, 2018 2:10:55 GMT
feather , thanks, glad to know my berries are similar to the store bought ones - never knew they were so expensive. I may have to put in a few more bushes. Thanks for being willing to 'test' them out. when we cook more up, I'll cook up both separately and see how it goes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2018 2:49:32 GMT
I planted 2 plants this weekend from Burnt Ridge Nursery here in Western Washington, different varieties of “Nigra” to help with pollination. I don’t drink alcohol so no wine or cordial production planned but I am really looking forward to making the cough medicine with local honey. I’m also starting beekeeping classes so maybe the honey will be from my pastured bees some day. 🐝🐝 I’m never excited about recipes where lots of sugar is added to tart fruit but there must be other ways some of you use them? Thanks.
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Post by feather on Apr 1, 2019 0:20:56 GMT
I cooked up elderberries last year, with honey and I've kept it in the refrigerator. When I got a cold last week, didn't think of it. DH is sick now and I have a residual cough, so we are both drinking a T of elderberry syrup with a little lemon juice in warm water. Instead of cough medicine or cough drops (neither of which are significantly helpful).
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Post by Ozarks Tom on Apr 1, 2019 13:26:24 GMT
Seems to work for me. A couple times last month I thought I was coming down with a cold, or worse, and took elderberry syrup three times a day. Never did come down with anything. I believe in the stuff.
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Post by mzgarden on Apr 1, 2019 19:34:59 GMT
I've got cuttings started in the greenhouse in hopes of adding more bushes. Had several folks say they're interested in berries or syrup so maybe this Fall I'll have even more.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2019 8:43:12 GMT
Elderberries around here are like grits - they just come. After reading the price they bring in, now that I'm home, I will be looking at them as another possible income stream.
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Post by ceresone on Apr 6, 2019 14:10:19 GMT
Mine seem to spread without a problem, something came up in the yard between two pines where I couldn't now it, so I cut it by hand. Next year I didn't get it cut, and it had berries. Now I know what it is
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2019 14:21:51 GMT
Mine seem to spread without a problem, something came up in the yard between two pines where I couldn't now it, so I cut it by hand. Next year I didn't get it cut, and it had berries. Now I know what it is I find that, if I cut mine back a bit, they come on even stronger the next year.
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Post by dw on Apr 14, 2019 21:27:55 GMT
I baby my plants...I might try cutting them back.
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Post by feather on Aug 10, 2019 16:47:45 GMT
Gardeners on a canning group, in PA are reporting that their elderberries are ready, for canning, or syrup, or drying. August 10th, 2019.
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Post by mzgarden on Aug 10, 2019 22:25:54 GMT
I did my first cutting Tuesday, 8/6. Cut my bushes and my son's. More 'green' berries were left, so I'll be getting a bit more. I simmered the berries with just enough water to cover them and strained them. Got 3 quarts of straight plain elderberry juice I'll be using to make syrup. and the best is -- more to come!
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