Growing up in Romania we always made syrup, tea, and a huge summer favorite, elbderflower infused lemonade, which is left to naturally ferment for a bit. The elder flower lemonade is like a natural fizzy drink, super refreshing. It was so popular in the Balkans that Fanta produced their own version of Elderflower Lemonade.
I made elderflower champagne and fermented Elderberry honey last year... so delicious! I've also made Elderberry jelly. Because elderberries lack acidity, the addition of lemon juice along with sweetener really brings out the flavor, especially in desserts.
Where I live in germany there's so many wild elderberry bushes in the forests, the smell of the flowers always brings back memories of playing in the forest when I was still a kid😃 love your videos, so interesting and informative
@@TheKiwiGrower Another German here: Since elderberries grow here in wild hegdes it is not very common to plant them in gardens. Though people use the flowers and berries here. The flowers are often made into syrup used to flavor fuzzy drinks or popular "Hugo" cocktail with sparkling wine. The berries are made into jelly or into a warm soup with sweet semolina dumplings floating in it.
My grandma used to dip the flowers in a kind of thick pancake batter (without baking powder) and fry them in a pan. That recipe is one of my favourite childhood memories! It tastes great, but is obviously very filling. It's a really popular way to eat them here in Germany.
@@mermer6160 I've never eaten it so far. But to form the pancake you have to leave the stems on the flower. By making syrup I've noticed it's better to get rid of most of the stems: they bring a bitter note.
I remember, the old man in Bavaria, when I was a child, tipped their hats to the Elderberry, as it is said, from the roots to the leaves it is healing.
I live in Denmark where elderberry is a huge part of the culture. Every summer people go out elderflower-picking, and they grow absolutely everywhere (roadsides, parks, forests, etc.). Nowadays people mostly use the flowers to make elderflower cordial, which is just the flavour of summer to me. I feel like the berries are more used by people in the countryside and older generation. Mostly we make a warm berry soup, which is really nice if you like that very distinct elderberry taste. I have hade elderflower fritters, but honestly it mostly tastes of fried batter 😆
You're starting to make me want to become a gardener... It's quite impressive what you can grow if you take properly care of it in the right conditions
Elderberries are honestly so easy to grow. Planted one of these same dark coloured varieties in a pretty poor draining area and it has gone gangbusters with very little maintenance.
Hi Kalem! Elderberry is such an amazing plant! That beautiful scent of its flowers remind me of a hot Polish summer. In my homecountry we use it a lot. My mum always have some dried flowers stored in paper bags to use it as a medicinal tea for the flu and colds [most of the time she mixes it with dried linden (Tilia) flowers and wild primrose (Primula officinalis or elatior) flowers]. Nature is the best source of medicines. We also use fresh flowers to make this absolutely delicious slightly fizzy cordial which is a must on a hot summer day, can be also used as a base for a cocktail. I think one of your viewers from Romania mentioned it aswell. I will add the recipe at the end of my comment, you should really try it, you'll love it! 🙂 Those fritters you mentioned are actually very, very tasty, you should try it yourself, just dip the flowers in a pancake batter, put them on a frying pan, cut all the stems with scissors (they can give you a REALLY bad diarhorrea😂) sprinkle them with a bit of a sugar powder and taa daa you got yourself a light, healthy and tasty summer meal. I used to always pick my elderberry flowers and fruits in mountain forests of southern Poland where Im from but at the moment I live in Ireland so I get those from a local woodland park, where they grow in abundance. I get strange looks sometimes though from the people passing by😂 Just wanted to mention that from what I know it is good to boil your elderberry fruits with no lid on as some cyanid compounds can evaporate then from your syrup. Also it is a good idea to press your fruits through a sieve if you are making a jam, that way you remove all the seeds which contain the most of the cyanide. I would love to be able to plant at least one elderberry bush in my garden but I dont have enough space, I squeezed as many plants in it as I possibly could but elderberry is quite big. Maybe someday when I buy more land. You are lucky to have so much space which you use so efficiently. At the end of my looong comment😄 just want to say that you are doing an amazing job with your videos and passion for plants, animals and nature. Im a regular viewer and I share your videos with friends. Also you are a man of so many talents, you can built a house, establish a farm and bake tiny tarts aaand you look like a male model. Your wife is a lucky, lucky lady🙂 all the best! PS: New Zealand is such an amazing place, so exotic and unique, especially for someone coming from Europe, hopefully I'll be able to visit your country someday. For now Im gonna keep watching your videos and listen to Kimbra 😉 •●Elderberry flower cordial●• 40 elderberry flowers (clean but prefferably not washed as by washing you remove all the elderberry pollen) 2kg of sugar (I use around 1,5kg, Im sure it can be substituted with honey aswell) 2 big organic lemons 1 organic orange 2 organic mandarins 2 packets of citric acid powder (20gram each) it works as a natural, safe preservative. 2litres of boiled, cold water Place elderberry flowers on a white paper sheet in a bright place for around 10 minutes, that way you'll make sure all the little critters will safely leave and wont end up in your cordial :) Wash and chop all the citrus fruits with skins on, use a big (around 6litres) preferably glass or stoneware container (you shouldnt use any metal containers or utensils with this cordial). Add all your ingredients in layers: flowers with stems cut off, sugar, citruses, citric acid, repeat until you use all the ingredients. Then use a big wooden spoon or wooden potato masher to press all of it from the top until you see citruses juice coming through. Cover your container with linen or cotton cloth and leave for 48 hours stirring all the ingredients around every 4 hours or so. After 48 hours add 2 liters of cold water and leave for another 48 hours, dont forget about stirring. After 48 hours sieve your liquid through a sieve and a gauze. Pour your cordial into sterilised bottles or jars and store in a fridge. After some time natural CO2 will appear so your cordial would get that nice fizziness. Enjoy with cold soda water and ice 🙂
I wonder if you could grow a compact variety in a large pot. If you keep it pruned, optimise the potting mix, nutrients, seaweed solution and water, it might work.
@@franceslock1662 thats a very good idea worth of trying! Thanks Frances :) I know there are different cultivars of Elderberry which have a different growing habits but not sure if they have the same medicinal properites as an original one so your advice is the best option for compact gardeners like me ;)
@@calonlan7561 thank you very much, Im glad you enjoyed reading my very long comment 😄 And I hope you will also enjoy this elderberry cordial, it is worth trying for sure. All the best😊
I made a syrup with own harvested elderberries from the forest 2 years ago and it tasted very good! In my region in Austria there are also plantations of elderberries for the use of especially the fruits 💚👋
Hi, I'm really excited to see you cultivate a plant native to my area as well! Here they are pretty much ubiquitous and grow everywhere on the edges of woods and along paths in the forest. It's really quite a beautiful sight in may when the elderflowers are in bloom. I've been drinking diluted elderflower infused sirup for pretty much my entire life and can really recommend it. It's made by soaking freshly harvested elderflowers overnight in water, then adding sugar and heating slightly to make it into a sirup. It turns a nice yellow colour and always tastes like early summer :) Cheers from Germany, love your Channel
Thanks for info! I’m definitely keen to try out the syrup next year. Must be amazing walking through the forest during that time. The smell would be intense
I didn't know there were so many things Elderberry can be used for. Thanks Kalem another great video. I think maybe you should apply for Masterchef NZ😂
They grow in the UK like weeds! I like to harvest the flowers in a local park here, I collect 20 heads and add 4.5 litres of hot water, lemon, lime, around 700g sugar and maybe a pinch of yeast if it's not fermenting after a day or so. Leave for a few days loosely covered, then bottle in plastic bottles or strong glass flip top bottles. Wait two weeks maybe and you've got elderflower champagne. It's gorgeous, sparkling and light, tastes like lychee! I also made an elderberry and blackberry wine in 2010 which actually tasted like a really good red, it was unreal! When I've done the syrup before, I've used sugar and boiled it up with it which made more of a syrup than what you ended up with. I've also done pies and crumbles with them but bulked out with blackberries or apples. Both brilliant! Great video, I enjoyed this and didn't know about the ease of propagation, I better go find a stick to get me started, I've always wanted it in my garden!
It’s amazing how widespread elderberries are. I live in northern Minnesota (zone 3) and they grow wild all over the place. God has blessed us with this tree!
Mn here. My woods have thousands of of them growing..... unfortunately the red variety. I have the black variety planted in my berry patch and will be propagating them for planting around the property.
I watched this video when you first posted it and this year finally got to picking my own elderberries. Thanks for the inspiration! I decided to make jam. For those interested you need to add pectic or combine your elderberry with another fruit (like blackberries) which are richer in pectin otherwise your jam won't set... I learnt the hard way...
speaking of not growing them in a hot dry location. We grow them in Las Vegas, US - a very hot very dry climate. The plants flower and produce fruit in the spring. Then the heat of the summer burns off the foliage, but in the late summer they will re-leaf, bloom and fruit again before winter. We love this plant!
Great video, but surprised you missed one. Sambucus gaudichaudiana, or the Australian native Elderberry. It's meant to have all the properties of its northern cousins but lacks the bad parts in the berries. So you can eat them to your heart's content. I have a few, they grow to 1.5m and do well in temperate places.
Wow, that’s First Nations medicine. What a fabulous project to do with children. I wonder where I could source seeds. I notice some First Nations cultural centres have plantings of bushes and trees with berries in their gardens. On the guided tour they didn’t go near them or tell us what they were.
Checked it out, they’re white berries, it’s a compact shrub, it can be purchased from a nursery in Victoria. I wonder if the medicinal properties are comparable. Thank you for your comment.
I so love watching your videos, so informative! As an Aussie, you look the spitting image of our famous surfer Mick Fanning! I’m sure you’ve been told that before 😊 Your love of plants is epic! So inspiring 💚💚💚
I love elderberries, they grow wild in our hedgerows and every year we used to gather bucketfuls of the berries. Now we have our own elderberry trees to harvest from. Lovely video!
Living in California's mountain's, elder grows wild. Made jam and loved the tartness on everything! Put it on steaks and even chicken and of course toast and pancakes love it.
Also there was wild choke cherries and I made jam from that too, both grow wild in abundance all over the mountain but you have beat the bears to get them lol. Thanks for replying peace out brother.
Not only is he smart, well-spoken and obviously hard-working, but a total hunk with that New-Zealander/Aussie charm. Keep up the good work, gorgeous! 😀
Hi, in Czech Republic we cook sirup for regular drinking out of the flowers. Just mix the sirup with water and you have tasty flavoured glass of water.
This was great timing as I just planted elderberry last week!! I was told that two varieties would pollinate each other to produce more fruit, so I planted a “York” and a “Nova”.Are you familiar with these varieties? I didn’t think it would produce berries the first year but seeing your cutting take off so fast, I will know to remove them if so and let the plants grow. I am so excited to try making the medicinal beverage for cold and flu season! Your tart looks delicious!! Thank you from Washington State USA
It grows everywhere in Sweden we use the flowers for lemonade it's probably the most popular lemonade here. And the Berries we salt like capers for food :)
Elderberries grow wild here in Oregon so it's nice to see other people try them. I usually make a cordial with honey and drink it when I feel a cold coming on. The cordial also goes great in seltzer water for a cocktail.
Thanks so much for your video - loved it. I was introduced to elderberries a few years back in Denmark, where we harvested the flowers and made pancakes. Was tasty as pancakes usually are, but now I'm looking forward to transforming that traditional recipe into a more healthy one, using alternate flours and perhaps maple syrup as a sweetener. We've planted Elderberries on our new land in the Waikato, and they are doing amazingly well
We just spent our first year converting an invasive bush(Black Alder) into an off grid farmland in Ontario Canada. We have a stream going through the center of the land and there is literally thousands of wild black elderberry. I cut a few stems in the Spring of last year and stuck them in the ground and they grew into fully mature plants with flowers and fruits. We make syrup, but did not know the flowers were edible. Thank you. So got the elderberry, but need bees. Beeeez eh?
I am from Austria and we have tons of elderberry trees growing in our forests. My grandmother always made elderberry flowers dipped in batter and fried. It's my favourite way to eat them. Btw did you know that the wood ear mushroom loves to grow on elderberry wood?
Elderflower wine is my favourite wine of all, to me it's the true taste of summer. I have never eaten the elderberries, but I have used them as a bait additive for freshwater fishing with great success.
I'm British and these are everywhere - I've never used them myself to make anything, but I've drank elderflower cordial and elderberry wine. I've also just eaten the berries straight off or the tree, too.
Here in slovenia the batter covered and fried flowers used to be quite a popular food in the past, I haven't seen it outside my grandmas house though. It's really good, an interesting taste that I just can't really put into words. What is more popular nowadays is to make a syrup for diluting out of the flowers, almost every (rural) household makes their own lol. Oddly, I have never tasted the fruit of them I think, which is weird since they grow everywhere here.
What a great video! I've been growing elderberries for a few years now and the one tip you gave about freezing the clusters before raking the berries off is ... GENIUS! I have spent hours and hours pulling the fresh berries off the stems knowing that the stems are toxic. I had considered elderberries VERY laborious until I saw that great tip about freezing the clusters. THANK YOU and God Bless!
My grandma used to dip the flowers in a kind of thick pancake batter (without baking powder) and fry them. That recipe is one of my favourite childhood memories! It's a very popular way to eat them here in Europe.
Where I used to live had many places to gather the berries and I would dry them out on a clean window screen in summertime make sure in the shade and make sure they are spread out not overlapping any. I used it to add to herbs to make a tea, excellent medicine when sick. I also used the flowers for tea, but the berries are better.
My Grandfather had a Elderberry tree growing on the curb/berm/sidewalk of his property in the South Island. He use to make Elderberry Wine and it was a "blow your mind experience" drinking it LOL
I steam juiced 6 gallons of wild elderberry last year, started my last quart yesterday, sigh. Elderberry juice is excellent for preservation and useful for mixing with other juices for direct liquid consumption, or making elderberry jelly with a sweetener. I use erythritol and stevia because of diabetes, and it’s yummy. Can’t use honey, double sigh. Thanks for your video.
I just planted two elderberry plants in my backyard, so I'm really excited to see how they'll be next year. I really appreciate your video on this, I learned so much
They grow all over in Florida! Love them. A friend's husband would make poultice of the leaves to treat his hemorrhoids. Claimed it works great! *just putting that out there in case someone needs it. Happy to find your channel. Great stuff!
Thank you for this very informative video. Elderberry fritters are very good, they taste flowery and sweet. I have also made elderflower syrup for cold summer drinks.
This is my first year growing elderberry in Texas and I was looking for ways to use the flowers. Your video was so informative for the uses of both the flowers and the berries. I loved your video. You did a great job and I aspire to be as creative and talented as you! I do have one question though, if I dig out one of the suckers, do I need to make sure I get roots in order to be successful?
Elderberries make the Most Awesome wine. Full bodied with a very rich memorable taste The Amish in south central Iowa produce it by the gallon One of the BEST wines I've ever had
Thank you so much. I have a self seeded one which I have been neglecting ( not intentionally!) , not any more. Will get right on to it and plant it in a proper spot,Thank you
i love drinking fizzy water with white elderberry syrup 😋it's also common to find white or black elderberry lemonade in german supermarkets. one of my favourite drinks ever 🥰i have yet to try the berries by themselves though 😊
My local forest is full of black elderberry but good luck finding any ripe berries! The birds love them and you’d be wise to get in on the elder action for your health. Great video as always, thanks
New to your channel so glad to have found you and for this, I live in Jacksonville Florida USA and these grow wild in my yard like a weed! I was afraid of them at first and tried to eradicate them but sadly they’re very invasive so I’ve embraced them and so glad to learn how to harvest and use the flowers & berries! Thanks! 12:58
where i live, elderflower flowers are used in a condensed sort of tea that you apply to the eyes via makeup remover cotton pad, plain cotton, paper towel or even frozen and applied directly to relieve eye strain, eye pain or hotness in the area. some even use it for pink eye but i don't know how well that works (if at all)
Just watched a few videos and have subscribed! Clearly put in loads of effort both into your plants but also your content. No wasted time here. Also, thanks for going out of your way and citing some research articles you spoke about. So important to be able to view sources!
Bro, love your channel. As a fellow kiwi fulla who has the same interests, I look forward to watching every new vid you upload. I've been wanting an Elderberry Tree for ages and randomly picked one up just this morning! Although not sure which subspecies yet, will have to do a bit of research.
I live in Canterbury, and these are actual weeds. I've never planted any, they just self-seed. They grow everywhere, and prefer up the side of the house, especially on the damp/cold sides. This spring we let them go and so far (as of March) they are the height of the roof. Lots of berries that we've been harvesting and putting in the freezer for when we have a chance to process them (too busy right now with all the other fruit!).
Hello there, I am a perennial gardener from Germany. I must say i love ur vids. But another thing the plant called Aronia ×prunifolia. I believe it would be a nice fit in ur garden.
I have an elderberry, hidden in the back of my garden. I'll definitely propagate it this year. We had to have 6 pine trees removed due to a bug investation under the bark. Nr. 7 had already fallen in the neighbors yard. Last year I already planted plums and apple trees. Another elder berry would be great in the open space.
Hello from CFS, we are a first time viewer and enjoyed your video today, it was very informational. We are currently making Hard Cider at home in Northern Michigan and looking for different Fruits/Spices to flavor said cider. Also planning to create our own homestead garden in 10 or so years so this type of video is very helpful. Best, David and Rachel from CFS!
Cheers guys, this could definitely be an interesting ingredient for you to try out working with. All the best with that and your future garden plans! :)
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this man is a gem we are so lucky
Yessir
Faxxxx
so he gardens, farms, cleans, teas, bakes, etc…. I aspire to be a man like this.
Growing up in Romania we always made syrup, tea, and a huge summer favorite, elbderflower infused lemonade, which is left to naturally ferment for a bit. The elder flower lemonade is like a natural fizzy drink, super refreshing. It was so popular in the Balkans that Fanta produced their own version of Elderflower Lemonade.
That’s cool. The lemonade sounds delicious!
I absolutely love elderberry lemonade too!
do you have the recipe?
Can you use elderberries for smoothies?
My ancestry is Romanian, and I dislike normal lemonade, I only like elderberry 😍
I made elderflower champagne and fermented Elderberry honey last year... so delicious! I've also made Elderberry jelly. Because elderberries lack acidity, the addition of lemon juice along with sweetener really brings out the flavor, especially in desserts.
Where I live in germany there's so many wild elderberry bushes in the forests, the smell of the flowers always brings back memories of playing in the forest when I was still a kid😃 love your videos, so interesting and informative
That’s so cool that you can forage for them there! Cheers 😁
@@TheKiwiGrower Another German here: Since elderberries grow here in wild hegdes it is not very common to plant them in gardens. Though people use the flowers and berries here. The flowers are often made into syrup used to flavor fuzzy drinks or popular "Hugo" cocktail with sparkling wine. The berries are made into jelly or into a warm soup with sweet semolina dumplings floating in it.
My grandma used to dip the flowers in a kind of thick pancake batter (without baking powder) and fry them in a pan. That recipe is one of my favourite childhood memories! It tastes great, but is obviously very filling. It's a really popular way to eat them here in Germany.
@@mermer6160 I've never eaten it so far. But to form the pancake you have to leave the stems on the flower. By making syrup I've noticed it's better to get rid of most of the stems: they bring a bitter note.
I remember, the old man in Bavaria, when I was a child, tipped their hats to the Elderberry, as it is said, from the roots to the leaves it is healing.
I live in Denmark where elderberry is a huge part of the culture. Every summer people go out elderflower-picking, and they grow absolutely everywhere (roadsides, parks, forests, etc.).
Nowadays people mostly use the flowers to make elderflower cordial, which is just the flavour of summer to me. I feel like the berries are more used by people in the countryside and older generation. Mostly we make a warm berry soup, which is really nice if you like that very distinct elderberry taste.
I have hade elderflower fritters, but honestly it mostly tastes of fried batter 😆
I'd love to learn how to make an elderberry cordial 😋
You're starting to make me want to become a gardener... It's quite impressive what you can grow if you take properly care of it in the right conditions
This one is particularly easy to grow too. They can thrive in less than ideal conditions :)
@@TheKiwiGrower yep, we have a few wild bushes locally which seems to do well on their own!
Elderberries are honestly so easy to grow. Planted one of these same dark coloured varieties in a pretty poor draining area and it has gone gangbusters with very little maintenance.
Hi Kalem!
Elderberry is such an amazing plant! That beautiful scent of its flowers remind me of a hot Polish summer. In my homecountry we use it a lot. My mum always have some dried flowers stored in paper bags to use it as a medicinal tea for the flu and colds [most of the time she mixes it with dried linden (Tilia) flowers and wild primrose (Primula officinalis or elatior) flowers]. Nature is the best source of medicines. We also use fresh flowers to make this absolutely delicious slightly fizzy cordial which is a must on a hot summer day, can be also used as a base for a cocktail. I think one of your viewers from Romania mentioned it aswell. I will add the recipe at the end of my comment, you should really try it, you'll love it! 🙂 Those fritters you mentioned are actually very, very tasty, you should try it yourself, just dip the flowers in a pancake batter, put them on a frying pan, cut all the stems with scissors (they can give you a REALLY bad diarhorrea😂) sprinkle them with a bit of a sugar powder and taa daa you got yourself a light, healthy and tasty summer meal. I used to always pick my elderberry flowers and fruits in mountain forests of southern Poland where Im from but at the moment I live in Ireland so I get those from a local woodland park, where they grow in abundance. I get strange looks sometimes though from the people passing by😂 Just wanted to mention that from what I know it is good to boil your elderberry fruits with no lid on as some cyanid compounds can evaporate then from your syrup. Also it is a good idea to press your fruits through a sieve if you are making a jam, that way you remove all the seeds which contain the most of the cyanide. I would love to be able to plant at least one elderberry bush in my garden but I dont have enough space, I squeezed as many plants in it as I possibly could but elderberry is quite big. Maybe someday when I buy more land. You are lucky to have so much space which you use so efficiently. At the end of my looong comment😄 just want to say that you are doing an amazing job with your videos and passion for plants, animals and nature. Im a regular viewer and I share your videos with friends. Also you are a man of so many talents, you can built a house, establish a farm and bake tiny tarts aaand you look like a male model. Your wife is a lucky, lucky lady🙂 all the best! PS: New Zealand is such an amazing place, so exotic and unique, especially for someone coming from Europe, hopefully I'll be able to visit your country someday. For now Im gonna keep watching your videos and listen to Kimbra 😉
•●Elderberry flower cordial●•
40 elderberry flowers (clean but prefferably not washed as by washing you remove all the elderberry pollen)
2kg of sugar (I use around 1,5kg, Im sure it can be substituted with honey aswell)
2 big organic lemons
1 organic orange
2 organic mandarins
2 packets of citric acid powder (20gram each) it works as a natural, safe preservative.
2litres of boiled, cold water
Place elderberry flowers on a white paper sheet in a bright place for around 10 minutes, that way you'll make sure all the little critters will safely leave and wont end up in your cordial :) Wash and chop all the citrus fruits with skins on, use a big (around 6litres) preferably glass or stoneware container (you shouldnt use any metal containers or utensils with this cordial). Add all your ingredients in layers: flowers with stems cut off, sugar, citruses, citric acid, repeat until you use all the ingredients. Then use a big wooden spoon or wooden potato masher to press all of it from the top until you see citruses juice coming through. Cover your container with linen or cotton cloth and leave for 48 hours stirring all the ingredients around every 4 hours or so. After 48 hours add 2 liters of cold water and leave for another 48 hours, dont forget about stirring. After 48 hours sieve your liquid through a sieve and a gauze. Pour your cordial into sterilised bottles or jars and store in a fridge. After some time natural CO2 will appear so your cordial would get that nice fizziness. Enjoy with cold soda water and ice 🙂
Great work - I've saved your recipe!
I wonder if you could grow a compact variety in a large pot. If you keep it pruned, optimise the potting mix, nutrients, seaweed solution and water, it might work.
@@franceslock1662 thats a very good idea worth of trying! Thanks Frances :) I know there are different cultivars of Elderberry which have a different growing habits but not sure if they have the same medicinal properites as an original one so your advice is the best option for compact gardeners like me ;)
Such a nice reply, enjoyed reading it--you sound as sparkly as the summer drink! Thank you for the recipe!
@@calonlan7561 thank you very much, Im glad you enjoyed reading my very long comment 😄 And I hope you will also enjoy this elderberry cordial, it is worth trying for sure. All the best😊
I made a syrup with own harvested elderberries from the forest 2 years ago and it tasted very good! In my region in Austria there are also plantations of elderberries for the use of especially the fruits 💚👋
Awesome, that’s cool that you can forage for them there!
Natural remedy to fight Covid-19 and strengthen immune system
A few years ago I made a "champagne" wine from the Elder and produced about 4.5 litres @ 14% alcohol. A few fuzzy nights for a while 🤣😂
Yep, elderflower fritters are the best, slightly sweet batter and shallow fry. Really fragrant and tasty.
Plus elderflower sparkling wine, yum.
Hi, I'm really excited to see you cultivate a plant native to my area as well! Here they are pretty much ubiquitous and grow everywhere on the edges of woods and along paths in the forest. It's really quite a beautiful sight in may when the elderflowers are in bloom. I've been drinking diluted elderflower infused sirup for pretty much my entire life and can really recommend it. It's made by soaking freshly harvested elderflowers overnight in water, then adding sugar and heating slightly to make it into a sirup. It turns a nice yellow colour and always tastes like early summer :)
Cheers from Germany, love your Channel
Thanks for info! I’m definitely keen to try out the syrup next year. Must be amazing walking through the forest during that time. The smell would be intense
I have a path through the woods where they grow for hundreds of feet and seeing them in bloom in spring is one of my favorite things.
As someone who's foraged elderberries since I was young I love this! Some breweries I've lived near even add the flowers to their ciders
That’s awesome, so many cool uses!
that sounds like it would make an amazing cider!
@@Liliarthan they are some of my favorites!
I didn't know there were so many things Elderberry can be used for. Thanks Kalem another great video. I think maybe you should apply for Masterchef NZ😂
Haha cheers Mark!
They grow in the UK like weeds!
I like to harvest the flowers in a local park here, I collect 20 heads and add 4.5 litres of hot water, lemon, lime, around 700g sugar and maybe a pinch of yeast if it's not fermenting after a day or so. Leave for a few days loosely covered, then bottle in plastic bottles or strong glass flip top bottles. Wait two weeks maybe and you've got elderflower champagne. It's gorgeous, sparkling and light, tastes like lychee!
I also made an elderberry and blackberry wine in 2010 which actually tasted like a really good red, it was unreal!
When I've done the syrup before, I've used sugar and boiled it up with it which made more of a syrup than what you ended up with.
I've also done pies and crumbles with them but bulked out with blackberries or apples. Both brilliant!
Great video, I enjoyed this and didn't know about the ease of propagation, I better go find a stick to get me started, I've always wanted it in my garden!
You are so easy to listen to. No puffed up filler! Thanks
It’s amazing how widespread elderberries are. I live in northern Minnesota (zone 3) and they grow wild all over the place. God has blessed us with this tree!
Mn here. My woods have thousands of of them growing..... unfortunately the red variety. I have the black variety planted in my berry patch and will be propagating them for planting around the property.
I watched this video when you first posted it and this year finally got to picking my own elderberries. Thanks for the inspiration! I decided to make jam. For those interested you need to add pectic or combine your elderberry with another fruit (like blackberries) which are richer in pectin otherwise your jam won't set... I learnt the hard way...
speaking of not growing them in a hot dry location. We grow them in Las Vegas, US - a very hot very dry climate. The plants flower and produce fruit in the spring. Then the heat of the summer burns off the foliage, but in the late summer they will re-leaf, bloom and fruit again before winter. We love this plant!
Great video, but surprised you missed one.
Sambucus gaudichaudiana, or the Australian native Elderberry. It's meant to have all the properties of its northern cousins but lacks the bad parts in the berries. So you can eat them to your heart's content. I have a few, they grow to 1.5m and do well in temperate places.
Wow, that’s First Nations medicine. What a fabulous project to do with children. I wonder where I could source seeds. I notice some First Nations cultural centres have plantings of bushes and trees with berries in their gardens. On the guided tour they didn’t go near them or tell us what they were.
Checked it out, they’re white berries, it’s a compact shrub, it can be purchased from a nursery in Victoria. I wonder if the medicinal properties are comparable. Thank you for your comment.
Do you think they could be shipped to the US? Or are they considered an invasive species? Customs is always finnicky with plants i hear.
I’m so impressed with the looks of the tart you made. Beautifully perfect!
I so love watching your videos, so informative!
As an Aussie, you look the spitting image of our famous surfer Mick Fanning! I’m sure you’ve been told that before 😊
Your love of plants is epic! So inspiring 💚💚💚
I love elderberries, they grow wild in our hedgerows and every year we used to gather bucketfuls of the berries. Now we have our own elderberry trees to harvest from. Lovely video!
Awesome, such a great plant to have. Thanks Liz :)
Is fine to use elderberries for smoothies? Like mix milk in it?
Living in California's mountain's, elder grows wild. Made jam and loved the tartness on everything! Put it on steaks and even chicken and of course toast and pancakes love it.
Sounds great! The jam would be soo good!
Also there was wild choke cherries and I made jam from that too, both grow wild in abundance all over the mountain but you have beat the bears to get them lol. Thanks for replying peace out brother.
Not only is he smart, well-spoken and obviously hard-working, but a total hunk with that New-Zealander/Aussie charm. Keep up the good work, gorgeous! 😀
Hi, in Czech Republic we cook sirup for regular drinking out of the flowers. Just mix the sirup with water and you have tasty flavoured glass of water.
Sounds yum, will have to try that out. Cheers!
This was great timing as I just planted elderberry last week!! I was told that two varieties would pollinate each other to produce more fruit, so I planted a “York” and a “Nova”.Are you familiar with these varieties? I didn’t think it would produce berries the first year but seeing your cutting take off so fast, I will know to remove them if so and let the plants grow. I am so excited to try making the medicinal beverage for cold and flu season! Your tart looks delicious!! Thank you from Washington State USA
My mother use to make alsorts of wine and elderberry was one of them. She also use to make elderflower champagne which was lovely. Happy memories.
It grows everywhere in Sweden we use the flowers for lemonade it's probably the most popular lemonade here.
And the Berries we salt like capers for food :)
Elderberries grow wild here in Oregon so it's nice to see other people try them. I usually make a cordial with honey and drink it when I feel a cold coming on. The cordial also goes great in seltzer water for a cocktail.
Awesome, sounds good. It’s cool that you can forage for them!
Is it like the elderberry syrup then add the seltzer water?
@@patroot2536 yeah just add to your level of flavor. Maybe add some lime juice or garnish if you want.
@@tylerjones1574 thank you
I think that Elderberry Flower Fritters are one of my most favorite childhood memories! I have an old Swiss recipe that I’ll send to you.
Awesome! You’re so inspiring. I live in an apartment but I am dreaming of having a garden in my future yard❤️
Thanks so much for your video - loved it. I was introduced to elderberries a few years back in Denmark, where we harvested the flowers and made pancakes. Was tasty as pancakes usually are, but now I'm looking forward to transforming that traditional recipe into a more healthy one, using alternate flours and perhaps maple syrup as a sweetener. We've planted Elderberries on our new land in the Waikato, and they are doing amazingly well
That’s awesome, so many great uses for them. Glad to hear your ones are doing well :)
Enjoying cold, organic elderberry syrup right now. Truly an amazing plant. I also like that you appear to be doing a great job researching.
We just spent our first year converting an invasive bush(Black Alder) into an off grid farmland in Ontario Canada. We have a stream going through the center of the land and there is literally thousands of wild black elderberry. I cut a few stems in the Spring of last year and stuck them in the ground and they grew into fully mature plants with flowers and fruits. We make syrup, but did not know the flowers were edible. Thank you. So got the elderberry, but need bees. Beeeez eh?
I am from Austria and we have tons of elderberry trees growing in our forests. My grandmother always made elderberry flowers dipped in batter and fried. It's my favourite way to eat them.
Btw did you know that the wood ear mushroom loves to grow on elderberry wood?
Yum, and no didn’t know about the wood ear mushroom. That’s really interesting
Elderflower wine is my favourite wine of all, to me it's the true taste of summer. I have never eaten the elderberries, but I have used them as a bait additive for freshwater fishing with great success.
I'm British and these are everywhere - I've never used them myself to make anything, but I've drank elderflower cordial and elderberry wine. I've also just eaten the berries straight off or the tree, too.
You are an all rounder! Very rare in these days of left ear specialists and right ear specialists.
Here in slovenia the batter covered and fried flowers used to be quite a popular food in the past, I haven't seen it outside my grandmas house though. It's really good, an interesting taste that I just can't really put into words. What is more popular nowadays is to make a syrup for diluting out of the flowers, almost every (rural) household makes their own lol.
Oddly, I have never tasted the fruit of them I think, which is weird since they grow everywhere here.
I made elderberry wine with red elderberries. It was pretty good chilled. Never had any negative effects.
What a great video! I've been growing elderberries for a few years now and the one tip you gave about freezing the clusters before raking the berries off is ... GENIUS! I have spent hours and hours pulling the fresh berries off the stems knowing that the stems are toxic. I had considered elderberries VERY laborious until I saw that great tip about freezing the clusters. THANK YOU and God Bless!
Only thing is when you are pulling the frozen berries of the stem and you miss the bowl those little suckers can bounce. lol
One thing i will definitely miss when i leave NZ is Pie . LOL
My grandma used to dip the flowers in a kind of thick pancake batter (without baking powder) and fry them. That recipe is one of my favourite childhood memories! It's a very popular way to eat them here in Europe.
Where I used to live had many places to gather the berries and I would dry them out on a clean window screen in summertime make sure in the shade and make sure they are spread out not overlapping any. I used it to add to herbs to make a tea, excellent medicine when sick. I also used the flowers for tea, but the berries are better.
My Grandfather had a Elderberry tree growing on the curb/berm/sidewalk of his property in the South Island. He use to make Elderberry Wine and it was a "blow your mind experience" drinking it LOL
Love this channel, keeps inspiring me to get in the garden
Cheers! 🌳 🌱
I steam juiced 6 gallons of wild elderberry last year, started my last quart yesterday, sigh. Elderberry juice is excellent for preservation and useful for mixing with other juices for direct liquid consumption, or making elderberry jelly with a sweetener. I use erythritol and stevia because of diabetes, and it’s yummy. Can’t use honey, double sigh. Thanks for your video.
That's great to know, thanks a lot!
We found some American black elder
Berries while camping, and we made
An elder berry syrup out of them!
It was delicious!
Wow that tart Pie looks awesome yummy. Great job, thanks for sharing
thank you for this information. I have elderberries growing in my yard, and never ate them, now I will try them.
I just planted two elderberry plants in my backyard, so I'm really excited to see how they'll be next year. I really appreciate your video on this, I learned so much
How are your bushes doing?
The Elder wand is the most useful posibility! :) Thank you for the beautiful video! :)
My friends make elderberry champagne from the flowers. They've given me cuttings so I can't wait to try it next year
When I was a child, I often had warm soup with apple wedges, it was really good.
They grow all over in Florida! Love them. A friend's husband would make poultice of the leaves to treat his hemorrhoids. Claimed it works great! *just putting that out there in case someone needs it. Happy to find your channel. Great stuff!
loved this video. As a german living in New Zealand i cannot wait to grow them in my garden :)
Kalem, you're a wonderful human being.
Thanks for the tip about pulling the berries off frozen! That will come in handy.
Thank you for this very informative video. Elderberry fritters are very good, they taste flowery and sweet. I have also made elderflower syrup for cold summer drinks.
The detail in the making of the tart crust top is impressive. 🤣🤗👌👌👌
I make Elderberry Gin with the berries. It works very well. I prefer it to Sloe Gin. After maturing for 6-9 months it's rich and fruity.
This is my first year growing elderberry in Texas and I was looking for ways to use the flowers. Your video was so informative for the uses of both the flowers and the berries. I loved your video. You did a great job and I aspire to be as creative and talented as you! I do have one question though, if I dig out one of the suckers, do I need to make sure I get roots in order to be successful?
Soak some cotton with the elderflower tea and dab on irritated eyes. Grandma's working solution, from Cyprus. Smells great too!
I'm inspired. I will definitely keep a lookout during my explorations.
This is very interesting and I am encouraged to plant elderberries now 🙏 thankyou xx
It's nice to see you using the bottle gourd that you made
Elderberries make the Most Awesome wine. Full bodied with a very rich memorable taste The Amish in south central Iowa produce it by the gallon One of the BEST wines I've ever had
Thank you so much. I have a self seeded one which I have been neglecting ( not intentionally!) , not any more. Will get right on to it and plant it in a proper spot,Thank you
I love this channel been binging for a few weeks now really informative and really satisfying w/all the cooking and preps!
Thabk u^^
Thanks for the support, glad you’ve been enjoying it! 😁
This is such a good video! The tart looks amazing.
These always make me think of Arsenic & Old Lace. I freaking love that movie!
My grandma and mom has been making jelly from elderberries since I was little
Great tasting!
Love the additional info.
Wow , very beautiful video my friend👍🤗
i love drinking fizzy water with white elderberry syrup 😋it's also common to find white or black elderberry lemonade in german supermarkets. one of my favourite drinks ever 🥰i have yet to try the berries by themselves though 😊
I love foraging the flowers and making fresh tea from them in summer, it's so tasty 😌☕. I didn't know I had to remove the stems though 😳.
Planning on planting a couple of elderberries in my place in Tasmania if I can source them. Can't wait to try them out in teas!!!!
Nice, hope it goes well!
My local forest is full of black elderberry but good luck finding any ripe berries! The birds love them and you’d be wise to get in on the elder action for your health. Great video as always, thanks
Me and my mom have always made juice out of the flowers and it turns amazing too
New to your channel so glad to have found you and for this, I live in Jacksonville Florida USA and these grow wild in my yard like a weed! I was afraid of them at first and tried to eradicate them but sadly they’re very invasive so I’ve embraced them and so glad to learn how to harvest and use the flowers & berries! Thanks! 12:58
where i live, elderflower flowers are used in a condensed sort of tea that you apply to the eyes via makeup remover cotton pad, plain cotton, paper towel or even frozen and applied directly to relieve eye strain, eye pain or hotness in the area. some even use it for pink eye but i don't know how well that works (if at all)
Just watched a few videos and have subscribed! Clearly put in loads of effort both into your plants but also your content. No wasted time here. Also, thanks for going out of your way and citing some research articles you spoke about. So important to be able to view sources!
Thanks heaps and welcome to the channel! Glad you're enjoying them. More coming soon :)
Bro, love your channel. As a fellow kiwi fulla who has the same interests, I look forward to watching every new vid you upload.
I've been wanting an Elderberry Tree for ages and randomly picked one up just this morning! Although not sure which subspecies yet, will have to do a bit of research.
Cheers man, glad you like the channel! Good luck with your elder too :)
Love your video coz I love gardening too
Regards from Bali, Indonesia
I just recently discovered your channel and thanks to you it’s given me the motivation to start my garden up again ❤️
I made elderflower cordial here in Invercargill at the bottom of NZ. Delicious!
You are a very clever, multi talented young man. I really enjoy your videos. All the best.
thanks friend for all the information you are my inspiration to make my garden
I live in Canterbury, and these are actual weeds. I've never planted any, they just self-seed. They grow everywhere, and prefer up the side of the house, especially on the damp/cold sides. This spring we let them go and so far (as of March) they are the height of the roof. Lots of berries that we've been harvesting and putting in the freezer for when we have a chance to process them (too busy right now with all the other fruit!).
Hello there, I am a perennial gardener from Germany. I must say i love ur vids.
But another thing the plant called Aronia ×prunifolia. I believe it would be a nice fit in ur garden.
Love elderberries I don’t grow them personally but buy them and make plenty of smoothie drinks with them lots of great benefits
Nice!
I have an elderberry, hidden in the back of my garden. I'll definitely propagate it this year. We had to have 6 pine trees removed due to a bug investation under the bark. Nr. 7 had already fallen in the neighbors yard. Last year I already planted plums and apple trees. Another elder berry would be great in the open space.
Nice, sounds great. I'm sure it will go well :)
This episode was entertaining and informative. Loved to Harry Potter reference.
We always used to make elderflower pancakes which were delicious
The videos are so full of knowledge and facts and you deliver the message really well 🤙🤙🌱
Great Video, we in South Tyrol Italy use the Elderberry flowers to make sirup for juice, it's my favorite drink in the summer!
I’m definitely going to do this next year. Sounds so yum
Can’t wait to grow. great info and video
Educational and I love knowledge. Thanks for sharing.
Hello from CFS, we are a first time viewer and enjoyed your video today, it was very informational. We are currently making Hard Cider at home in Northern Michigan and looking for different Fruits/Spices to flavor said cider. Also planning to create our own homestead garden in 10 or so years so this type of video is very helpful. Best, David and Rachel from CFS!
Cheers guys, this could definitely be an interesting ingredient for you to try out working with. All the best with that and your future garden plans! :)