Preserving Time~And Elderberries!

Dear Friends,

A happy day to you! We're so glad you popped by, and thankful for your ongoing friendship.

We have had a couple of frosts this past week, so have been scurrying to save what we can of the tomatoes, squash, etc. Then the neighbors called to say we could have their extra beets, corn, and plums that they couldn't use, on top of gallons of hawthorn berries and elderberries that we had just picked the day before! We remind ourselves of the bees that are scurrying to suck the last drops of nectar out of the flowers before winter.

After tediously processing hawthorn berries (They have to be simmered with water, then pressed through a jelly bag to make syrup), we are grateful to be processing elderberries now~

Elderberries grow into trees of considerable size.

There are lots of elderberries in Wolverine Canyon this year.

They have little, easily-eaten seeds and are easy to dry whole in the dehydrator, to be used later as a cold and flu preventative. They are also easily juiced in a Green Star or other high-quality juicer. We like to eat them raw, too, although they can cause digestive upset while still in the green stage.

Elders and Hawthorns grow together in the hills.

Here is an article that my father wrote about elderberries back in the 1960s. If you live where there are wooded country roads, it would be well worth your time to search out these wonderful trees and partake of their bounty. Swine Flu scare, begone! :)

Till next time,

Love,

Marqueta