So I have a new obsession: Elderberry foraging. Last weekend we attempted to go canoeing and fishing at a mountain lake but were rained out. Lucky for us there were a whole bunch of wild black elderberry bushes dotting the edge of the dirt road that wound up the mountain. We were able to wild harvest quite a few elderberries that day. Then the next day we drove up into the mountains to scout for archery hunting season and found a bunch of wild blue elderberry bushes to harvest. On top of that, both days we were at a high enough elevation that we found a bunch of huckleberry bushes loaded down with sweet, juicy, purple berries. We were in wild berry foraging heaven!
Elderberry Identification
I’ve mentioned in other posts that my favorite book for identifying wild edibles is this one. This book was so helpful for me when first learning how to identify elderberry plants and a wide variety of other wild edibles.
Elderberry, or Sambucus, is a shrub in the honeysuckle family. They can grow as tall as ten feet and are deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in the winter. The elderberry flower is an easy way to spot these shrubs in the spring and early summer. Just drive up a dirt road in the mountains and look for a tall shrub covered with clusters of white flowers. From a distance the flowers look like one big flower head, but when you look closely you can see they are a cluster of tiny white flowers. They have a unique smell and I’ve heard they make a great jelly.
The Elderberry shrubs have a distinct leaf pattern and can be easily spotted along the dirt roads that crisscross the mountains in our area. Once you become familiar with the leaf pattern and are able to identify an elderberry shrub, you will be amazed at how often you see them. Here in Montana, the elderberry shrubs are typically ready to harvest in late August or early September.
In our area, the most common types of elderberry shrubs are black elderberry and blue elderberry. The black elderberry looks more like a very dark purple.
I actually see the blue elderberry most often and they are quite distinct in the fall when the shrubs are loaded down with beautiful light blue berries. They are especially beautiful once the elderberry shrub starts losing its leaves in the fall so the vivid light blue berries are really eye catching.
Interestingly I noticed that the black elderberries produced a dark purple red color when squished raw. The blue elderberry had more of a clear juice inside when raw, but once cooked they turned a vivid deep purple red color just like the black elderberry. It was quite fascinating!
Elderberry Foraging
Like any wild edible foraging you plan to do, it is important to know if there are any harmful properties in what you are harvesting. This book I use says that “Generally, raw elderberries are considered inedible and cooked elderberries edible.” There is also a warning in the book stating “The stems, bark, leaves and roots contain poisonous cyanide-producing glycosides (especially when fresh) which cause nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea” Interestingly the book also mentions Native Americans used the other parts of the shrub for a variety of things so go figure!
When heading out to forage for elderberries, be sure to bring along a bunch of bags or buckets. Elderberries hang in clusters which take some time to pull off each individual berry. We found that the easiest way to harvest elderberries is to snap the branch off just above the berry cluster. I used a knife the first few times but then found that the branches snap quite easily and it was quicker to snap the branch off by hand.
If you are harvesting an elderberry shrub that is hanging full of ripe berries, be gentle! The berries easily fall off of the branch with the slightest touch. This makes for some very careful elderberry harvesting to make sure you get more berries than the ground below! We found a few elderberry shrubs where the berries weren’t fully ripe. We harvested the berries and let them sit on a windowsill for a few days until fully ripened.
Elderberry Cleaning
Removing elderberries from the branches can be tedious. One trick I learned is to tap the elderberry cluster on the inside of a bowl to allow all the ripe berries to just fall off the stems into the bowl. To remove any elderberries that are left on the stem, gently pull your hand over the cluster and the berries will just fall off. I’ve heard of people using a comb or fork to remove elderberries but I wasn’t too fond of this method since my bare hands removed the berries better.
Once all the elderberries are removed from the stems, place them in a bowl or sink and rinse with water. Many of the elderberries we harvested still had the small dried elderberry flower head attached to the bottom of the berry. Rinsing them in water will allow any little bugs or dried flower heads to rise to the top and can easily be skimmed off. We also found a few little inch worms that had hitched a ride on our elderberries!
Elderberry Uses
Medicinal Elderberry Syrup. Our primary reason for harvesting elderberries is for medicinal purposes since they are full of Vitamins A and C, Calcium, Potassium and Iron. Our wild edibles book mentions that they contain anti-viral compounds that may be useful in treating influenza. During cold and flu season, we take a daily dose of homemade elderberry syrup to boost our immune systems and keep us healthy. I shared our favorite recipe for elderberry syrup this winter (if you missed it, you can find our elderberry syrup recipe here ).
Elderberry Juice. This year we also made a batch of elderberry juice. This process was similar to making elderberry syrup but without the spices and honey added. To make elderberry juice:
1. Place two cups of fresh berries and four cups of water in a sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Use a spoon to mash the berries on the side or bottom of the pan. (I tried using a potato masher but the berries were too small so a spoon worked better.)
3. Allow the juice to sit for a while and cool. Once cool, pour through a piece of cheesecloth placed inside a fine mesh strainer.
I like to wrap up the elderberries in the cheesecloth and squeeze out as much juice as possible. The elderberry juice is tart so you can add sweetener like honey if you plan to drink it.
4. Refrigerate or freeze your elderberry juice for use. I froze a quart jar of unsweetened elderberry juice to use for a big batch of homemade elderberry syrup once we harvest honey from our beehives in the next few weeks. I also froze unsweetened elderberry juice in an ice cube tray and placed the cubes in a bag in the freezer. This way I have small quantities of elderberry juice to add to things like homemade fruit snacks and smoothies.
You can also make elderberry jelly and pie, although we haven’t tried either of these yet. We’re hoping to do more elderberry foraging in the next few weeks so if we find more, I think we’ll try making some homemade elderberry jelly.
I’m amazed at how abundant the elderberry shrubs are in the mountains around us. These beautiful, vitamin rich berries are easy to find along most mountain roads in our area and provide a variety of medicinal uses. Hopefully all these free foraged fruits will help keep us healthy all winter long!
Do you forage for elderberries? What are your favorite ways to use elderberries?
This post shared on: The HomeAcre Hop, From the Farm Blog Hop, The Homestead Barn Hop,
Love elderberries! I’ve made syrup and also love to make elderberry exact! I use it to help the syrup last longer, but it also tastes amazing in hot cider. 😉 It’s super easy! Here is what you do: http://www.littleowlcrunchymomma.blogspot.com/2014/09/how-to-make-elderberry-extract-or-how.html
Thanks for sharing your elderberry extract recipe, if we get more elderberries this fall we’re going to make some!
The berries were definitely plentiful this year. We picked huckleberries, gooseberries and elderberries up in the 10 lakes area and were amazed at the amount of berries we came home with. We mix the gooseberries and the elderberries together and make our cold syrup with the juice of both of them combined. Happy I found you here. Look forward to reading the adventures of a fellow Montanian.
Welcome to a fellow Montanan! Sounds like you had a great summer of foraging wild berries also. We were amazed at how plentiful the berries were this year. The huckleberries were huge and the bushes were hanging so full this year!
OMG, I just realized that I grew up with these berries ALL. OVER. THE. PLACE. But I never knew they were edible so I never realized they were useful. Thanks for this! Will be on the lookout now that I know what they are! 🙂
We harvest Elderberries every year. I make jelly, pies, and the last couple years Elderberry syrup for building our immune systems, colds and what ails. 🙂 Jamie Glaze, thanks for the hint to use Gooseberries with the Elderberries, never thought to use both together. This was a bumper crop for our Gooseberries this year. 🙂
Jacquelyn@LittleOwlCrunchyMama adding the syrup into hot cider!! Ooooh my.. sounds like a winner for us to delve into too! Thanks.
I have harvesting elderberries in NH as long as I can remember. (I used to help my mom back in the 40’s) I make elderberry jelly every year. Have also made wine & pies. I didn’t know about the syrup. I’ll have to try it. Thank you.
my dad has an elderberry tree he started a few years back from a sprig… it has to be an easy ten ft tall.. I just made three pies… mmmm good…. you can make vinegar also… new trick… rinse put in a baggie, in freezer for an hour or so, and then lightly shake the bag… they fall off easy…
Thanks for sharing that tip, I’m going to try it next time we harvest elderberries!
We make elderberry jelly and juice. People around my area in Illinois thinks I’m crazy for making the juice and drinking it every day to keep our immune system up. Thanks for sharing maybe they’ll believe me now that they see all ur post on here. Thanks
Use a fork to get the berries off the stems. They come off really easy.
Hello from Janet in Staffordshire, England.
May I share a good recipe from James Wong’s book and TV series. I used wild crab apples instead of a cooking apple.
Recipe: Antiviral Elderberry Jam
A fresh, fruity jam recipe to treat colds and flu from “Grow Your Own Drugs”
Elderberries are immunoprotective and inhibit viral replication – which means when you’re coming down with a cold or flu, they can help make make symptoms shorter and less severe. Eat this delicious, health-promoting jelly on toast for breakfast, as an accompaniment to meats and cheese, or take a daily spoonful when you need it.
Ingredients
400g elderberries
1 Bramley apple
400ml water
Juice of 1 lime
A few fresh eucalyptus leaves
Whole dried chilli
500g granulated sugar
1. Wash the elderberries and apple. Chop the apple without peeling or coring. Put the elderberries, apple (including the core), water, lime juice, eucalyptus leaves and chilli into a pan and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain through a sieve, pressing with the back of spoon to extract as much of the pulp as possible.
2. Place the elderberry liquid in a large pan and add the sugar. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to stop the sugar from burning, then simmer for another 30 minutes. If you have a jam thermometer to hand, the jelly reaches setting point at 105°C / 221°F.
3. When it’s ready, skim off any scum, then bottle in sterilized jam jars, putting a waxed disc, wax-side down, on top. Cover with a round of cellophane and secure with a rubber band or ribbon.
Take 1 generous tablespoon whenever you feel cold symptoms coming on. Will keep for up to 1 year in a cool dark place. Once opened, store in the refrigerator
© 2011 James Wong
hello. My son just mentioned to me that the elderberries on the creek bed were drying up. Is there any way to salvage the berries since they are drying? Thanks.
You can still use elderberries even if they are dry. Typically when you buy elderberries from a store they are dried but yours would just be naturally dried!
I make elderberry jelly which my family loves and is easy to make too.
I must share a funny from last summer. Our family relocated from KY to Idaho last July. In Sept. my husband started noticing the beautiful blue berries hanging on plants that looked like elderberry bushes we had in KY. I however thought all elderberries were black as we had in the Midwest. It took me a couple of weeks to even find a pic of the elderberries from Idaho, what a laugh as I kept telling my husband, no those are not elderberries. I ended up canning over 35 quarts of syrup and I’m so thankful dh noticed the beautiful BLUE elderberries. Our family takes a daily dose of the yummy stuff!
Blessings
Elderberries are plentiful here. I’m lucky enough to have several trees by the barn. In fact, if you don’t keep the grass mowed underneath them, they will take over. These sprang up from a compost bin I had there, but had to move because I wanted to keep the trees, so I wouldn’t have to forage for them. Seems like if you just throw the berries on the ground, the next spring you will have trees. Chickens like elderberries as do the birds and my rat terrier mix dog, Chee. One warning, if you are also taking a diuretic, be careful with taking elderberry juice as it too is a diuretic. I make jelly, but this year for the first time, I’m am also making syrup for my husband who is prone to bronchitis.
Thank you for the info on identifying elderberry plants. I have been making Elderberry tincture for flu and other viruses (colds and cold sores for) years. We all take a teaspoon every day as a preventative and as a result when everyone we know is sick with flu and colds we are all well and healthy. I think I’ll try my hand at making syrup and jelly this summer.
Thanks for all the good advice. I studied herbs in Oregon where elderberries are plentiful, just discovered a large plant in a neighbor’s yard here in Massachusetts. I used to haunt the Whole Foods for Sambucol (elderberry syrup) but now I make my own. It tastes fresher and more delicious and I don’t use all the honey called for so I can make it to taste.
I grow elderberries in Lawton, Michigan and consume enough to keep my children and 19 grandchildren free of many illnesses.
By the way, you can refrigerate the stems with the berries on and the next day just slide them off between your fingers into a bowl.
I forgot to ask. I found elderberries with green stems in-lieu of the typical purple stems and wonder if they have the same qualities?
I have an Elderberry bush at home ( black elderberry) and I’m waiting for it to multiply enough for a good harvest. My son has what looks alot like elderberry growing wild in his yard in New Hampshire. It looks the same, except the stems have lots of small thorns at the base. Could this be the blue elderberry? And are there any poisonous look alikes? Is the blue elderberry as anti-viral , and immune boosting as the black elderberry?
I have not been able to find this info online and I would reaaly appreciate any info you have. Thanks
The different types of elderberries I’ve seen did not have thorns but I’ve only seen the ones that grow wild in our region. I would suggest having your son contact the local extension office or a plant nursery in his area to see if they can help him properly identify what he has growing so he will know if it is edible or poisonous.