Thursday, July 23, 2009

Zoom w a View: Bumper elderberry crop for purple pies ahead

While motorcycling last Sunday I passed through elderberry country, SE of London, and stopped to see how healthy some of my favourite plants appeared.

in my opinion, with a bit more heat (you know, when summer arrives), folks who love purple pies as much as I do will find elderberry plants loaded to the max.


What are elderberries? A: Small, tart, purple berries that can be used in delicious pies and tarts and for unique syrups and wine.

Where can they be found? A: You need a good eye, but most plants are along fence lines in rural areas.


They're in bloom right now and easy to spot. The flowerets remind me of the wild carrot plant.

Where exactly? A: I'm not telling.

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2 comments:

Kathleen said...

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuv elderberry wine! Had it for the first time last year.
Yum. But how the heck to do you collect enough -- such tiny berries with good-sized seeds.?

G. Harrison said...

Hi Kathleen,

It doesn't take long to fill two or three garbage bags with ripe flowerets. But you need help culling the berries from the stems. That's where my wife, brother and sister get into the action. We're pros by now, and make a front porch party out of the culling process.

(Be prepared to live with purple finger tips for a week!)

Cheers,

Gord H.