I finally harvested the elderberry bushes on my property and made jelly! Until a week or so ago I hadn’t known much about them and how beneficial they are.. Here is what I found.
Story: Back when my husband and I bought our property, five years ago, we were told by previous owner that there were elderberries on our property. Not knowing much about them I didn’t search for them. This year I decided to tame our massive blackberry “forest”. As I did this, by mowing rows right through patch, I found the five elderberry bushes. After making the jelly I have found four more bushes.Once I found the elderberries I went online and did my research on how to use elderberries. I pretty much enjoy any jelly so that is what I chose to make. If you were to ask, “well what does it taste like”, to me the jelly has its own distinct taste but if I had to choose.. I personally would say it most comparable to blackberry jelly.
What’s so great about Elderberries?!
Enhance immunity
Anti-viral
Helps reduce nasal congestion
Treats cold and flu
Anti-inflammatory
Potent anti-cancer
Natural support for arthritis
High in vitamin A, B, C and potassium
Treats wounds when applied to skin
Shouldn’t eat too many raw as they have cyanide in seeds and stems. Must be boiled to eat in large amounts.
Harvesting: Using a pair of scissors I clipped off the whole batch of ripe elderberries. Put them in a tote and took them in the house. I then cleaned them in a large bowl of water. Once they are cleaned you need to pull off the berries from the stems. Some use a comb or fork to pull off the berries but I tried that and I preferred pulling them off with my hands.
Elderberry Jam Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups juice (about 3-4 lbs ripe berries)
- 1/4 cup lemon juice1 packet sure gel
- 4 1/2 cups white sugar
Instructions
- Boil down ripe elderberries for at least ten minutes. Then I placed a cheesecloth into my cone sieve (similar one listed to the side) to separate juice from seeds.
- Take three cups of that juice and add it to pot on stove.
- Add 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 packet of SureJell pectin. Bring to boil on high heat.
- Then add 4 1/2 cups white granulated sugar and 1/4 tsp butter. Bring to rolling boil, stirring with spoon occasionally. When the stirring no longer interrupts the boiling put spoon down and boil for another two minutes.
- Done! Remove from heat and pour into 5-6 prepared jars.
- Proceed to do water bath canning (for 5 minutes) or put into fridge.
Notes
Conclusion: The recipe turned out very delicious and the benefits seem pretty fantastic to me! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!
Please note: this recipe worked for me but I can’t guarantee your success. Also for the water bath I’m assuming you know the basics to canning (including preparation, adding food to can but leaving 1/4″ of space at top, and how to seal properly). I hope this recipe works out well for you and you enjoy it!