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Elderberries
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Posted by keepitlow 6/7 (My Page) on Sun, Oct 25, 09 at 18:46
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Read elderberries are good for the immune system. I'd like to grow some next season.
Are they easy to grow? Also what source do you recommend?
Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Elderberries
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| Very easy to grow. Elderberries grow wild everywhere. I have some cuttings from my John's Elderberry that are rooted and ready to go. Want to trade? Email me off-list. Thanks,
Little John |
RE: Elderberries
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| Keepitlow: After you have tried a few elderberries, you may decide that a weak immune system is not so bad after all. A good trade for elderberries would be aronia berry plants. Equal pain would be inflicted on both sides. I have some Viking aronia bushes I wish I could give you. They will soon be going to the county shredder, and the space they occupied will be filled with Bababerry. Aronia is full of anthocyanins, and anyone who can eat them must be immune to just about everything. However, most berries, including raspberries and blueberries, also have high levels of anthocyanins, though perhaps not as high as the foul tasting aronia. To each his own, but I prefer berries that taste more like fruit than medicine. I know I am about to catch hell from the aronia and elderberry folks. Please be kind. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA |
RE: Elderberries
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| With the userrname jellyman, I would guess that you have made jelly with both of these? I find raw aronia berries to be really unpleasant, while raw elderberries taste "green" to me. I've left them on the bush until they dry out, sampling every week, and they always taste green, but not so unpleasant as the aronia, more like chewing on a leaf. However, aronia jelly and elderberry preserves are both really good. Both have a kind of musky flavor, as well as a distinct flavor of their own. As far as health benefits, the effect of elderberry in treating viral illnesses is formally documented. I don't think it's clear yet what exactly is doing the job, but their anthocyanins or flavanoids may contribute. I'll confirm that they are easy to grow, Japanese beetles are the only pest I've seen, and the damage was pretty minor. Getting rid of a bush is a tough job, and if you dig one out, suckers will come up for years, so be sure about where you want the plants. Alex |
RE: Elderberries
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| Thanks for the trade offer, but I don't have anything to trade. Never having tried elderberries, I guess they don't taste good from your replies. Since they are so bad, would deer eat them? And are aronia berries just as good for the immunity chemicals if I don't go with the elder's? |
RE: Elderberries
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| Three lashes for Jellyman. That's right! Actually, I really like the final products made from Aronia, juice and jelly. But, in a thread I posted last year, I noticed a tremendous difference in the tannin level of the berries from year to year. Cooler and wetter conditions yields a MUCH more edible berry. Elderberries do have a funny flavor raw, but cooked are really delicious. Elderberry wine is very popular too, I gather, as long as it's not laced with poison a la 'Arsenic and Old Lace'. |
RE: Elderberries
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| The plant themselves are a prefered browse of deer, planted 50 of them this spring for that purpose, im sure they eat the berries some too but they are prefered by birds, turkey, grouse and any other game birds you may have. |
RE: Elderberries
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| Elderberries are not meant to be eaten raw. They make excellent jam and, I have heard, one of the best fruit wines around. The European species(sambucus nigra) has been shown to have a genuine effect against cold and flu and a commercial preparation called Sambucol is available. The North American species(sambucus canadensis) has not been tested. But I gather that these are now viewed as belonging to the same species by botanists. I have made some elderberry liquor by steeping crushed berries in vodka with sugar and it is perfectly drinkable (i.e. does not taste like medicine). I don't know if it will prevent colds, but it will make me feel good in any event. |
RE: Elderberries
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| My maternal grandmother used to make a mean elderberry pie every summer/early autumn, from what I remember, but she died almost 40 years ago, when I was six, so perhaps my memories aren't all that accurate. After all, I do remember gnawing on crayons in kindergarten (although I never ate the paste to my knowledge as some kids did). |
RE: Elderberries
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| Even commercial off-the-store-shelf elderberry jelly is very good. I'd continue to grow a few elderberries just for the pretty display of huge flower clusters and the easily managed (hack down as much and as often as you want) distinctive foliage. |
RE: Elderberries
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| Keepitlow, They are easy to grow. I have a John's and an Adam's and before I knew not to eat them raw I'd swipe a handful now and again. While not like a blueberry or something, I like the taste. My plants are only two and really shot up and produced fruit the second year. I like them. |
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