Elderberry - what can I do with it?

[Mad Moya]

I have a huge stand of Elderberry in my backyard that the local birds feast on. I'm wondering if there's something I could do with them before the birds got all the berries (note: I love the birds, but they must learn to share). :)

I know about elderberry wine, but don't think that's for me... what about a jelly? How hard is that to make? Or are there medicinal uses for the plant I'm not aware of?

I was just outside and a few have started blooming already - mostly the tallest ones. And on a side note, my young magnolia tree is also in blossom for the very first time - ooh, what a wonderful smell!

Thanks, Mad Moya

[Lavender]

Wow! You're so lucky! Everything's wet and grey here. You can make jams and jellies from the berries. Don't eat the berries raw...they must be cooked. I don't make jams or jellies but I've eaten elderberry jam and it's tasty!

The flowers will dry nicely for storage. Elder flowers are great for teas for cold and flu symptoms. A combination of elderflower, peppermint, and yarrow flowers makes a great tea for that.

Also, elderflowers in a cloth bag will make a great skin wash. Great for most types of skin irritations. The tea infusion of elderflower and chamomile will make a great base for a lotion.

Barks and leaves of the elder tree can be used but I would recomend caution. Unless you really know what to do, don't take the leaves and barks internally. Traditionally, the barks and leaves can be used for coughs but there are better and safer herbs to use. The bark and leaves can be used externally for bruises and sprains. You can add comfrey root and plantain leaves with the elder to make a nice healing ointment.

Small branches and twigs can be carved into pipes. The inside pithy parts can be blown out to make whistles.

Elder tree is a great tree with a lot of folklore surrounding it and should be treated with a lot of respect. The particular spirit that lives in the elder tree is known for it's crankiness. It can take offense quite easily. Ask for permission before taking anything from the tree and leave an offering.

[Mad Moya]

Um... tree?

My elderberries are more like tall shrubs... maybe 15 foot high, but the "trunk" is only about 2-3" in diameter. They literally grow like weeds and I have to keep pulling them up every year... (30 to 50 new ones at a time).

This is the kind of elderberry I have growing on my property:

http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/scanadensis.htm

The elder tree in Europe is quite tall and very tree-like, the native elderberry trees are much shorter, but apparently they're the same kind of berries? I literally have hundreds of the little shrubs in the backyard (which is part conservation/swamp land).

Hmmm....

[Lavender]

Sorry...the uses are similar for both European and American elder. I'm just used to thinking of them as trees. They are more shrub-like than trees. :) The ones I have growing here are like what you have. But right now, they're bare branches until spring. *sigh*

[Mad Moya]

Brrrr... I just realized how far north you were... my sympathies! Our elderberries don't drop their leaves here, but they do stop flowering in late fall, I guess to give themselves a rest. Heck, my roses love this time of year and I get my best blooms from now to early spring before the heat sets in. The only thing that does drop its leaves is the sycamore tree in the front yard... guess no one told it that it doesn't get cold here in Florida. :)

I'll send you some warm thoughts!
Mad Moya

[MoonRaven]

I didn't get any elderberries last year, but that's mostly due to my laziness and lack of motivation. I couldn't be bothered to walk to where they were growing.

Anyway, I found this site on Elderberries (and a few recipes for the flowers). I thought it was pretty interesting.

http://www.patch-work.demon.co.uk/elder.htm

[Ptah]

Merry Meet,

The entire plant has medicinal uses. In Victorian times it was know as the backyard medicine chest. If you wish to use the berries, you wiil have dehydrate them first and then reconstitute them.

[Mad Moya]

Dehydrate? In Florida humidity? And that's assuming I can get to the berries before the cardinals do! LOL

Between, the possum, racoons, dillos, cardinals, woodpeckers, and who knows what else (don't think the gator likes elderberries tho), I actually haven't seen much fruit on the shrubs in the last few years. Guess I'll have to learn to be quicker!

[Ptah]

... put them in a brownpaper bag and set it on top of your fridge... it will take about a month... you can also buy dehydrators that take only hours...

[Mad Moya]

Thanks, I'll give the paper bag a try as soon as I find some berries! We're in a bit of a cold spell right now, it almost got down to freezing last night! Brrrrrrrrrr.......