Hunting Elderberry Flowers

On Easter Sunday my husband and I took a Jeep ride up to the mountains. We meandered along country roads to get there just enjoying the ride and in no particular hurry to arrive at any set destination.

I always equate elderberry picking with deer season in the fall, but along the way I noticed that the elderberry bushes along the St. John's River were blooming. So the following Sunday, I asked my husband to repeat the trip until we got to the elderberry bushes so I could pick some flowers. He was happy to oblige. We stopped for breakfast first after I took care of a few chores in the garden. The bees were out in force, but they didn't seem to mind me. I quickly learned to pick the blossoms they were after as those flowers were the newest and still full of pollen and nectar. We had a really enjoyable time and I came home with a plastic grocery bag full of blossoms. Luckily I double bagged and put them in a flexible ice chest, because when I got home the bags were crawling with little bugs. So I washed them very thoroughly and put them is a colander to drain.

Last fall when I decided to try my hand at making Elderberry Wine, I had purchased a book on wine making from everything but grapes. Things like herbs, fruit, vegetables and flowers. I noticed there were 2 recipes for making Elderberry Flower Wine. So I broke out the book. It called for 1 pint tightly packed elderberry flowers. So I spent the evening picking the flowers and packing them in a pint jar. That jar sure held a lot of flowers. I heated up a gallon of water and brought it to a boil. Then I added the flowers, the zest of 1 lemon and 1 Camden Tablet. I let this mixture sit for 3 days. On Wednesday night I added 3 pounds of sugar and brought the mixture to a boil. I let it cool over night. This morning I mixed 1 and 1/2 cups of room temperature orange juice with about a teaspoon of wine yeast and 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient. After sitting for about an hour, the orange juice mixture started bubbling which meant the yeast was working. I added this to the pot with the flowers, sugar and water and let it sit for the day. The next step is to strain everything into a clean 1 gallon plastic jug (I use tea jugs) and place a large balloon over the top. I poke a few pin holes in the balloon. This allows the yeast farts to escape without allowing any wild yeast or bacteria to enter. Yes, yeast farts gas when it eats sugar and converts it to alcohol. After sitting a few months, I'll place the wine in bottles and allow it to age for at least 6 months to a year.

So I accomplished what I set out to do and made Elderberry Flower Wine, but I got a bonus. I had enough blossoms left over to fill 2 cookie sheets. I placed a couple of layers of paper towels in the bottom then lay out the blossoms. I turned the oven on to it's lowest setting - 170 degrees. Once the oven was hot, I turned it off, slid the cookie sheets in and propped the oven door open about an inch by wedging a towel in the opening. (Do not turn the oven back on.) After about 3 days the flowers were dry enough to pull off the stems. Suddenly I was in heaven! Have you ever smelled lilac blossoms? They are so sweet and just wonderful to smell. Well the dry elderflowers smelled just like lilacs. Even after all the washing they still coated my fingers with fine yellow pollen. What a bonus to enjoy that lovely fragrance. Now I can use the dry blossoms to try the second wine recipe or I can use them in tea.

Elderberries are very good for your immune system. I made a simple Elderberry Syrup last fall. There were 3 times this winter when I felt myself coming down with a cold. As soon as I felt the symptoms coming on, I would start taking a tablespoon of Elderberry Syrup every hour. By the next day I felt much better, symptoms were cleared up with just a little tired feeling. By the second day I felt completely well.

According to Essential Home Remedies website,

Dried Elderberry flowers can be steeped in hot water to make a tea that is rich in potassium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and bioflavonoids. The Elderberry is known to be an antioxidant, a diuretic, a laxative, a diaphoretic, and an anti-inflammatory. It can also help build your immune system so you can fight off everyday colds, flu. and infections. It can be used as a sedative, astringent, and an expectorant.

An Israeli study in 1980 on the effects elderberry has on viruses showed that 20 per cent of participants who were suffering from the flu showed significant improvement of symptoms which included coughing, sore throat, aching muscles, and fever after only one day of taking elderberry extract. Ninety per cent were completely cured at the end of three days. A tea can be made using the berries. Strain it and add some lemon juice and honey. Drink a cup during the day and another before going to bed when you have a cold or the flu.

The benefits of Elderberry include lowering your cholesterol. So add elderberries to your diet if you are ready to lower your numbers while building a strong immune system.