Elderberry Flowers: How to pick and use elder flowers
Whether you call them elderberry flowers, elder flowers, or elder blow, they all are great to eat! In this video, I go into some details about how to identify this great plant. I also give tips on how to pick the best flowers, and I'll show how to get the flowers ready to use -- both fresh and dried. This video applies to the Common Elderberry of the eastern United States, the blue elder of the western US, and the black elderberry of Europe because that are so closely related that they were recently combined into the same species. The elderberry grows as a bush, usually wth multiple stems. It can be a big bush. Look at Klutzy Gardener over on the right, and he's 6 foot, 3 inches tall! Here's the flowerhead attached to the end of a branch. And look how these leaves come out opposite each other on the branch. Each leaf has 5-11 leaflets with jagged edges. As they get older, the elderberry branches get woody and their bark has distinctive bumps. Elderberry branches are not solid wood. They have a spongy pith in the center. The elderberry flowerhead is gorgeous. It's very flat. It does not have a conical shape - it's flat! Here's how the flowerhead grows: the flowerstems branch out in a whorl, with each stem branching out again into another whorl, and so on. A close look at the flowerhead shows it is made of lots and lots of individual flowers. The flavor of the elderberry flowers does not come from the petals or nectar - it comes from the flowers' pollen! So it's important to harvest the flowerheads at the stage when the pollen is fresh, not before the flowerbuds open up and not after the pollen is gone. Both in the wild and in a cultivated landscape, an elderberry bush is dramatic! Every year, people stop and ask me what this bush is! I do want to emphasize that even though the biggest flowerheads may have multiple levels to them, each level is flat and it's not arranged in a cone shape -- that's a different plant! Here's a flowerhead that's too immature to bother with - the buds haven't opened up yet. Here's a flowerhead with some flowers already getting old. The best thing to do in this case is just harvest the part of the flowerhead that's at the right stage. Even though elderberry flowers are little, it really doesn't take long to collect enough flowerheads to use for a bunch of different things. I like to use a lot of flowers fresh. But the green parts of elderberry plants are not good for anybody to eat, so I rub the flowers off the flowerhead. I do get a little bit of the green stems in there, but not enough to worry about. I also try to make sure the bugs and spiders escape. I also set some flowerheads aside to dry in a dark place like a paper sack. But I just left these in a bowl. When the flowerheads are dry, it's easier to rub off the flowers. Then I put the dried flowers in a jar so I can use them later in the year for elder flower tea, which is really good! I'll post a video soon about making tea with from dried and fresh elderberry flowers. And I'll be posting a video on how to make some great elder flower pancakes, too. Elderberry: Sambucus nigra, Family Adoxaceae Common Elderberry: Sambucus nigra subspp. candadensis Blue Elder: Sambucus nigra subspp. cerulea Black Elderberry: Sambucus nigra My video on picking and using elderberry flowers: https://youtu.be/TiaTrbVcDB0 My playlist on foraging wild foods: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEGN8kE_KnjBHba1wyw5WWkAu49RoB_-X My playlist on homestead cooking: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEGN8kE_KnjAOiHxDZ-kYltFC4L9DPafT My channel: Haphazard Homestead https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcZCvPPU9dgxD0yXrc9DaPA
Comments
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I have this growing wild in our ditch I seen a bottle that had a picture that look just like that plant. so now im sure that this is what its is.
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I make elderberry jelly. The flavor has a complex of three different fruits. First you taste a grape flavor next a blackberry flavor then a blueberry flavor. On the front of your tongue you taste grape then as it goes to the middle of your tongue it taste like blackberry then just be for you swallow you taste a blueberry flavor. Try making elderberry jelly. You will love it.
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Thank you! Was going to pick today and make a cordial, but it's very windy (and has been for a few days), so don't imagine there's much pollen! Will wait for new blooms and a still morning.
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I have elderberries growing in my yard. I have used the red elderberries; a friend made the wine. It was delicious and healthy! I am finally learing the value of this plant on the old homestead farm I was blessed to buy. I did not even know the value until recent years!
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got tons of this at our homestead, thx for the share, just sub'd. hope you get a chance to check out our suburban homestead.
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Great video, thanks. I just took some cuttings and planted them in the garden. Thanks for sharing :)
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nice video i am growing elderberries this year
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I heard some elderberry plants are poisonous and can kill. Which varies are to be considered and avoided? Thanks
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Just heard about your channel from Southern Homesteading. You have great content and quality videos.
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Great vid :) keep em coming
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Enjoyed your video, keep up the good work.
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I have often wondered about the distinct differences between poisonous Hemlock and Elderberry. Thanks for giving a close up look at the Elderberry!
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Thank you!
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Excellent tips on using elderberry flowers!
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