Several years ago I discovered a wild elderberry bush that had started growing on the edge of the farmstead. I mowed around it and let it grow. It has grown very large and had a lot of berries on it this spring so I decided to harvest them and make elderberry syrup.
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| The harvested elderberry prior to cleaning |
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| The cleaned berries |
I located a recipe that was pretty simple. Put a few cups of berries into a few quarts of water bring to a boil and mash up the berries. Then just add cinnamon and ginger and simmer till it reduces to a third of the volume. After it cools then add the honey and stir to dissolve.
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| Mashed up berries and spices in the pot |
Elderberries contain high levels of A, B, and C and stimulate the immune system. So during cold and flu season it is handy to have a quart in the fridge to take daily to help build your immune system. I ended up with about 3 quarts of elderberry syrup. I put one quart in the refrigerator and the rest i froze into cubes and put them in gallon zip bags and put them in the deep freezer. I can just thaw a serving sized ice cube when i want to drink some.