It’s no secret that I do a ton of research before I jump into a project. The fact is everything is too expensive to throw away on trial runs. My social media has been full of online summits, seminars, trainings. A couple of months ago, I stumbled on a weeklong web series of teachings on elderberries. I signed up, logged in during the livestreams and took notes. Here’s what I took in and what has me feeling ready to start my own elderberry plants come springtime!
“Growing Farmers” Workshop
The workshop was hosted by Michael Kilpatrick, a well-versed elderberry grower and farmer. Each day he spoke with another elderberry expert. John Moody, author of “The Elderberry Book,” Taylor Clark, a landscaper turned elderberry grower, Terry Durham, who operates River Hills Harvest, Andrew Thomas, an elderberry researcher, and Brandi Schindler, an elderberry entrepreneur. He also caught up with a couple who started growing elderberry not too far away from his farm to see how their start was coming. There was a lot of overlap in information each day, so I won’t break it down by what each speaker said. But it was still plenty of information to share.
History Points
- Elderberry is the oldest known medicinal plants.
- It was used as cave painting dye and buried with pharaohs.
- Hypocrates wrote a book on elderberries calling them “The People’s Medicine Chest.”
- Pliny the Elder wrote on elderberries and their many uses.
- Elderberry shrubs used to be used as a windbreak plant and food theft deterrent in Victorian times.
- In World War II, branches were broken off and left around the sick as a fly prevention.
Studies on Elderberries
Andrew Thomas is a researcher at the University of Missouri and on the fourth day of the web series, shared some findings and active studies on elderberries. I searched for the findings on a few but haven’t uncovered all of them yet.
- Medicinal Attributes Study
covers the cognitive benefits of elderberries - Pruning Study
- Cyanide Study
findings on the presence of cyanide in elderberries - Mechanical Harvest Study
- Location Study
- Antioxidant Study
general benefits of elderberries
Cool Findings on Elderberries
In no particular order, here are some tidbits I learned from the workshop. There are over 170,000 medicinal properties in the plants and 30,000 compounds in the juice. Elderberry is a $270 million industry in the U.S. Berries were used as a dye and polish in history, and the leaves for ointments and salves. You can create a natural pesticide by crushing the leaves and mixing them with water. Then add the mix to spray bottle and spray on plants. Elderberries are super easy to grow; supposedly you can take a stem and put it in the ground root free, and a shrub can grow from it. Stems are hollow and were used for air flow for fires and sap collecting.
Growing Elderberry
Varieties (North American)
- Adams
Heirloom indeterminate variety with smaller berries - Bob Gordon
Determinate variety with large, dark fruit- good for winemaking - Hamilton
Indeterminate newer southern variety - Ozark
New variety that is somewhat difficult to grow - Pocahontas
Indeterminate short season variety with large clusters of berries reaching 2 feet across - Ranch
Determinate variety that blooms early and handles heat well - Wyldewood
Taller indeterminate variety with a longer season that allows around 60 pounds of fruit per plant - Nova
Cold hardy, high yielding variety
Growing Elderberries
Plow the area you plan to grow four feet wide. Then add any amendments your soil would need. The goal is to have a loose, fluffy soil. Next, run four feet wide heavy duty nonwoven landscape cloth along the tilled area. Cut out an “X” shape where you intend to plant each cutting. Then place the cutting and staple the “X” closed around it. Make sure to keep the area weed free while the cutting grows. Pluck flowers for the first three years to allow the plant to focus on establishing itself. When it’s time to harvest, pull branches and destem and clean the berries.
The workshop has me feeling ready to get started! I ordered some cuttings to plant in the springtime. Of course, we’ll keep you posted on how that adventure goes!