The Definitive Guide To The Elderberry

When you settle a share of land, first plant an Elder tree, then make your home there.” — T. Elder Sachs

The elder plant has a long, rich history and reverence wherever it can be found and is prized for its medicinal qualities just as much as its capacity to produce tasty pies.

The legend has been since medieval times that the cross of Jesus Christ was made of elder wood and that Judas hanged himself on an elder tree. The availability of the truth in either matter is long gone, but the myth persists to this day.

Some cultures hold the elder as an evil plant aligned with the devil, while others forbid cutting it down.

Elder has only recently become something uncommon in kitchens across the United States and worldwide. Previously, the plant was regularly used  as far back as 400 BC, when Hippocrates stated that elder was so useful he referred to it as his medicine chest.

Although it is widely available geographically, yet most people no longer harvest it. They don’t know what they’re missing!

Elder identification is extremely important, as there are a few lookalikes around that can cause some nasty symptoms and even death.

Elder has opposite compound leaves that are serrated. The veins of elderberry terminate at the tips of the “teeth,” if they don’t end before that point.

Elder bears small, white or cream colored flowers in late spring that give way to berries. The flowers can be used for many things, from syrup to champagne to fritters.

Black elderberries are edible when they are ripe and cooked. A few can be eaten uncooked by most people without issue, but most people cannot do this without some stomach upset. That aside, elderberries taste best cooked, anyway; why eat them raw?

Don’t pick dwarf elderberries (Sambucus ebulus); they look similar to normal elderberry, but the berry clusters stand straight up from the herbaceous (not woody) stem. Regular elderberries droop and connect to woody stems.

What separates elderberry from some other lookalikes is bark. Elder is a woody plant and has bark with small warts all over it.

Image source: USDA Plant Database

Sambucus canadensis, a subspecies of Sambucus nigra, can be found in almost any state in the lower 48 United States. It is also commonly found along hedgerows in the United Kingdom and Ireland and grows wild in Europe and western Asia. Other species of Sambucus are found worldwide.

It typically grows towards the edge of forests where receives a good amount of light and it isn’t picky about soil quality, although it grows best where nitrogen is readily available. It can make its home in wet or dry soil.

Elder can look like a few different plants, some of which are very poisonous. There is a lot of talk about the difference between elder and pokeberry, but here are some others you need to be very aware of.

Nutritionally, elderberry is a star. It’s loaded with almost twice the nutrients of blueberriesacross the board. This could be attributed to the fact that elderberry is considered a weed and grows mostly without human intervention, whereas blueberries are typically a commercially farmed product.

Elderberries are a wonderful example of the nutritional difference between plants that are grown in the wild or organically and those that are produced commercially. Today, we have to eat more of the same thing to get the same nutritional value that was available from the same plant 50 years ago.

More sugar, more calories, and more food intake in general leads to obesity and many other health problems. If our food today is nutritionally inferior to what our ancestors ate, it’s no wonder we have to eat more of it to feel satisfied now.

As stated before, elderberry is a nutritional powerhouse that modern agriculture has all but left untouched.

Black elderberry extract (Sambucus nigra L) has been proven multiple times to be effective in shortening the duration of flu symptoms by at least 3 to 4 days. In one study published in the late 90’s, 93% of flu patients who took Sambucol to fight their illness were made well within 2 days. The other patients who took only a placebo took 6 days to recover.

One recent study shows that black elderberry extract is an effective treatment for cases of influenza A and influenza B. The group that didn’t take Sambucol didn’t recover until day 6. They took much longer to recover than the group that took the elderberry extract and to lessen symptoms, they required much more pain medication and nasal sprays.

Elderberry has been found to increase cytokine production, which is good for the immune system for most individuals.

Elderberry stimulates the immune system and increases cytokine production, so no one with an auto-immune disease should use elderberry. This includes diseases such as lupus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and many others.

Increased cytokine production has also been linked to Autism Spectrum Disorders and so anyone diagnosed with ASD should not take elderberry.

It is also high in vitamin K and so can cause problems for anyone who has a tendency towards blood clots.

You should always talk to your doctor before introducing any new supplement or food into your diet, but this is especially true for those who have serious medical conditions.

Recipes for elderberry jelly can be found on many websites, including the ones listed below. If you don’t want to spend the money on canning supplies or just want to try itfirst, there are a few places to buy it online.

Elderberry Jelly by SimplyRecipes.com

Waitrose.com has a recipe that uses metric measurements

Thebestgardening.com has a recipe that helps eliminate some of the guesswork in batch sizing.

HealthHomeHappy.com has a great recipe for elderberry gummy candy. Great for kids and adults, too!

Shrubs

A “shrub” is a vinegar-based, sweetened drink. Shrubs can be made with many different kinds of fruit.

TheKitchn.com has an easy recipe if you’re willing to give it a try.

EOmega.org also has a recipe to try that includes ginger.

Smoothies

AbesMarket.com has a wonderful smoothie recipe. It doesn’t get much healthier than this!

A cordial is also known as a liqueur and is sweetened with sugar.

Honest-food.net has a good recipe for elderberry cordial.

While making cordials is simple, making wine requires a little more attention to detail and properwine making equipment.

Commonsensehome.com has a recipe that incorporates muscat raisins.

Honest-food.net has one of the best recipes available, plus detailed information on the process.

A wonderfully simple recipe for elderflower syrup can be found at GeorgiaPellegrini.com.

A great recipe for elderberry cough & cold syrup can be found at CrunchyBetty.com.

Fresh Eggs Daily has another great recipe with quality images and instructions.

RealFoodRN.com also has one worth a peek.

WellnessMama is another great resource for a syrup recipe.

Elderberry & Rose Hip Syrup can be found at RecipesToNourish.com .

One recipe for elderflower fritters can also be found, complete with detailed pictures, atGeorgiaPellegrini.com.

A recipe for Sour Cream Elderberry Pie can be found at YankeeMagazine.com .

For something a little different, try the Elderberry Betty recipe at ClickAmericana.com .

Blueberry compliments elderberry just fine in this pie from RaggedyHenFarm.

Ingredients

• 5lb fresh, ripe, crushed elderberries
• 1lb loaf sugar

Simmer berries with the sugar and evaporate to around the thickness of honey.

Dosage: 1 to 2 tablespoons mixed with hot water and taken at night promotes perspiration and can be demulcent to the chest. After being made, the rob can be stored for the winter.

Source

While cordials, wines, syrups, and fritters are good to eat, elderberry tincture is used medicinally. You can use either fresh berries for it or dried.

If you’re using fresh berries, you will need an alcohol that is high proof (over 100, but closer to 190 proof is best) for the tincture to store properly. The juice in the berries can dilute the alcohol to unsafe levels and it can spoil. Dried berries don’t have this problem, however, so tinctures made with them can be made using 80 proof alcohol. The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook describes making tinctures, syrups, and other herbal preparations in detail.

Nourishingherbalist.com has a recipe that incorporates other herbs to give the most nutritional effect.

Be Warned

Uncooked berries from the Sambucus genus are almost all poisonous. Sambucus nigra flowers are edible raw and the berries are edible when black and cooked, but no other part of the plant is safe to eat. The stems, bark, leaves, seeds, and roots are poisonous.

Red elderberries should be treated as poisonous, even though some research suggests that they may be edible when ripe, de-seeded, and cooked.

There have been few risks associated with elderberry consumption for around 5 days at a time. There have been no scientific studies on the long term effects of taking elderberry as a dietary supplement.

As with any food, there are some who may be allergic to elderberries or flowers and may react adversely when consuming them.

You should not take elderberry if you suffer from an auto-immune disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS), lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis.

Elderberry grows prolifically in the wild and doesn’t need too much attention to prosper in your garden, but because you are actively choosing where to plant it, some things can go wrong.

Soil

Moist, rich

Elder prefers a moist, rich soil for the best growth. They do, however, don’t need to be planted where water ponds when it rains. Good drainage is important.

Mulch

Mulching around bushes is important for new plants to keep weeds from strangling them. This also helps the soil around the plant retain water, so you won’t have to water as often.

Sunlight

Full sun to partial shade

If you’ve ever seen elder growing in the wild, it always grows in locations where it receives several hours of sunlight per day. You’ll notice it growing along roadsides, the edge of forests, and sometimes in open fields. You’ll never find it growing exclusively in the shade.

Pruning

Late autumn to early spring

Prune your elderberry plant only when the foliage has died back. This will happen in late autumn through early spring.

Here are a couple of places online that you can buy dried elderberries and flowers.

Amazon.com

StarwestBotanicals.com

Willis Orchards

American elderberry plants can be purchased from WillisOrchards.com with prices starting at $5.95 for a 1 to 2 foot tall, 1 year old plant. Prices go up to $59.95 for 6 to 7 foot plants already fruiting size.

Nourse

Nourse is a great place to get young plants, but they don’t seem to have older, fruiting size plants available like Willis Orchards does.

StarkBros

StarkBros has some different varieties of elderberry plants listed on their site, but they are unavailable as of 10/2/14.

EdibleLandscaping

Edible Landscapping has several varieties of elderberry plant available and some grow to different sizes than others.

http://sunflower-press.com/definitive-guide-elderberry/