How to Get Food From an Elderberry Plant

Elderberries are tiny, dark purple berries that grow abundantly throughout the world on trees or bushes. Delicious and versatile, there are a number of different species of elderberry, with Sambucus nigra or black elder being popular with cooks for its color, diversity and flavor. Raw elderberries are poisonous; therefore the berries should be cooked before consuming. Green berries should be avoided entirely as these are toxic even after being cooked, so stick with the fully ripe sprays of berries. Pick a grocery sack of berries; you'll need a lot of berries to make three pots of jam; however the flavor will have you hooked and you'll want to go out and gather more of the same. When you get the berries home take the tines of a dinner fork and run them through the stems to remove the berries easily or simply take your fingers and gently coax them off their stems.

Things You'll Need

• Fermentation vessels
• Airlock
• White food-grade pail
• White sugar
• Lemons
• Oranges
• Jelly jars
• Mason jars
• Lids and bands
• Water-bath canner
• Metal spoon
• Siphon tube

Instructions

Jam, Jelly and Wine

1. Make jam easily by combining 2 quarts of elderberries with 6 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of vinegar and the juice from half a large freshly squeezed lemon. Bring to boil and boil down until thick; this could take 45 minutes. Take a metal spoon and dip it into the boiling juice; lift the spoon out with the bowl of the spoon facing you. If two drips sheet off the metal spoon at the same time, then you are ready to transfer the jam into hot mason jars, cap and process in a water-bath for seven minutes.

2. Make jelly by boiling up the elderberries in a large pot until they’re soft. Drain elderberries through muslin or cheesecloth without squeezing to make the juice come out faster, and for each cup of juice, add a cup of sugar. Add the juice of two large lemons to the juice and boil until the juice reaches the “gel” stage–two drips sheeting off a metal spoon. Pour into hot sterilized jelly jars and cap. Process filled and capped jars in a water-bath for seven minutes.

3. Make elderberry wine by collecting four pounds of elderberries. Chop a whole lemon and a whole orange. Place elderberries and chopped citrus fruits in a sterile food-grade white pail and pour a gallon of boiling water over them. Cover loosely and leave this “must” until tepid. Add a package of yeast to the must and stir thoroughly. Add four pounds of white sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. Cover pail with a lid fitted with an airlock or cover loosely. Stir every day for a week. Siphon liquid off the fruits and transfer it to a gallon vessel fitted with an airlock. When sediment is visible at the bottom of the vessel, siphon off the liquid into a sterile vessel leaving the sediment behind. Fit with an airlock. Siphon into individual wine bottles after the liquid has finished the fermentation process.

Resources

• Elderberry Jam
• Elderberry Herbal Extracts
• Buy Elderberry Plants