Picked the first few heads of elderberries yesterday. Boy do I have a bumper crop! Last year I dehydrated them and have been making hot elderberry tea by steeping the berries in boiling water and then adding local honey and a slice of lemon. Good for me and so far has helped keep the sickness away. I rarely get colds or the flu. I especially drink it around allergy time in the spring when the trees on my property bloom and yearly I have a flare up for a few weeks. I do think it helps.
I have 4 elderberry bushes and this year is my largest crop so far. Plenty for the birds and plenty for me to experiment a bit. I would like to make a few jars I think of elderberry jam to try my hand at it. I haven't had any since my grandmother passed long ago. Maybe an elderberry pie or two for O Wise One. He does love his baked goods.
If anyone else has elderberries out there I would love to hear what you do with them.
Blessings from The Holler
The Canned Quilter
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I bought dried elderberries last year. Can you tea me how you make your hot tea? Do you have a syrup recipe using sugar instead of honey?
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog!
I have some small draw string tea bags that I got off from Amazon. I simply drop about a tablespoon of dried elderberries into the bag and sometimes a piece of a stick of cinnamon. I steep the bag in hot water and add honey to taste. I usually have lemon slices in the fridge and will float one in the hot tea. I do not drink it everyday but will drink it a couple times a week. Sometimes I simply just throw a few elderberries in with my chamomile or mint tea also. It just depends on what you like. I leave my dried berries whole when I dehydrate but may experiment with powder this time around.
DeleteI've used this recipe from Wellness Mama and like it: https://wellnessmama.com/1888/elderberry-syrup/ I imagine you could replace the honey with sugar, you might need to experiment a bit with quantities. I personally omit the honey and its fine for me.
ReplyDeleteI lavished some love on my elderberry bush last year and its looking good for producing lots of berries now. I will dry them, too.
Once I got my bushes established which took about 2 years they bloom and produce pretty reliably now and are carefree. The only pain is trying to stay ahead of the sprouts that come up around them to keep that part of the bed from becoming an elderberry thicket!
DeleteI make syrup from most of my elderberries, though I dehydrate or freeze what I cant use.
ReplyDeleteTo make a syrup, simmer berries covered with water at least an hour & strain. I use to make 1:1 tea to honey but now I use only half the honey and add more water. It works for me & it stays go oi d in the frig.