It was years ago that I harvested elderberries, but I don't recall any special tricks to removing the berries from the stems. I think I just stripped the berries off the bush by hand.

An important point I do recall is that, in a jelly or pie recipe, some lemon juice should be added because they are bland without it. They don't have the acid most other berries have.

They make a very beautiful and good tasting jelly or pie.

Jim

I just made an elderberry pie last evening using berries I canned last fall. I pick the entire umbrel. I fill my canner with cold water and dunk a handful in several times to remove anything foreign. Then, I take a stool out in the back yard where I sit with several bucket and pull the berries of the stems. I then place the berries into quart jars and add a heated light syrup. HWB for 20 minutes.

There ya go! Just ask a Western New York gal if you want to know how to take care of elderberries.

Jim

Pick the entire head of berries, then pick out any which are green or partially green. They are toxic. (Though the odd one seems to end up in anything I make with elderberries!) I do it the hard way. Sit in front of the TV with a large bowl of berries on the head, and another small bowl to the side. Then I pick them off one by one, putting the stems into the larger bowl, and the berries into the smaller bowl. Sometimes the other way around, when I'm concentrating more on the TV.

It's fiddly and time-consuming, but it's actually a very soothing occupation, like knitting.

I'm told the wire screen works well, but wear gloves to rub them - the fruit can be used as a dye.

What do you intend to do with the berries? I freeze mine while I think about it, but usually make jam or individual pies. If you boil some up with brown sugar, it's called Elderberry Rob, and if taken 1 tablespoon at a time before bed is a wonderful remedy for the symptoms of colds and flu.

Pick some of the fresh flowerheads, too. They are edible and delicious, but only when really fresh. When old, they taste and smell like cat's urine. They can be frozen.

I also pick the entire head then remove the berries by hand. Mine here are still small and green but another month and they are going to be jelly....

Annie

Labor Day is my cue to go pick elderberries.

If you make elderberry jelly, wine or syrup you don't need to strip off the individual berries because you only use the juice. I just trim most of the umbel away with kitchen scissors, cook them up and strain through a cloth. It doesn't matter if a bit of stalk is left. In fact I have never used the whole berries for anything because of the pips. Strangely, even though UK hedges are thick with elder, we don't seem to have a tradition of using them for jam or pies.

flora, one of the older ladies in the neighborhood told me that last year, after I stripped all the berries. I haven't tried it myself, so I can't say how it works.

Annie

"...one of the older ladies in the neighborhood..."

Or would that be one of the "elder" ladies in the neighborhood. :-)

Good to see you back on the Harvest forum Annie.

Jim

Okay, you "elders" :), we have wild elderberry bushes all over my region....do you pick them when they have a "frosted" sheen, or when they're totally blue-black (or is that overripe??). Thanks!!

Absolutely pick them when they are fully ripe, blue-black. Green berries are toxic, half-ripe berries just a little less toxic. You really shouldn't eat ripe berries uncooked, either.