February 13th, 2008 · 2 Comments
Cedar fever hits me HARD every year from December through February. The scrubby green Texas cedar trees turn a distinct orange with seed pods, and simultaneously I get stuffy, congested and fatigued, for about two months straight. Sometimes I can hardly tell whether it’s still allergies or I’m getting sick, and I usually do end up with a cold or mild flu at least once every winter, presumably because my immune system is upset with me for being so stupid as to live in a place crawling with cedar when I have such a strong reaction to it.
So in an attempt to ease the yearly pattern, I’m taking my elderberry vs. colds research (for example, this article from Herbal Remedies, this article from Myrtle Beach Online and this article on Sambucol from WebMD) to heart this year.
The results? Since mid-December I’ve been taking a dose of elderberry almost every day, and while I can’t say I’ve been allergy-free, I’ve definitely stayed sickness-free, which is a good thing. Finding elderberry products in Texas hasn’t been easy though. I found the Sambu Guard I wrote about earlier at a small pharmacy called “People’s Pharmacy,” but when I searched HEB, Randalls, my local drug stores, I found nothing. Even at Whole Foods, an organic and natural foods grocer, I found only the same Sambu Guard and some elderberry extract in pill form. (But who wants to waste the yummy taste of elderberries on capsules?)
Speaking of that Sambu Guard, by the way, it was $12 a bottle at the pharmacy, and $16 a bottle at Whole Foods. In a vitamin store in Canada, it was $23 CAD! I found it online here, though, for just under $10 a bottle, and with a flat $5 shipping fee for the whole order to Texas, that turned out to be by far the best deal. (And no, they’re not paying me to say this. I wish they would!) The bottle says to refrigerate it and use it within 8 days, but the pharmacist assured me that as long as it stays in the fridge, it can last longer than that.
I also ordered a larger bottle of Sambu, which is basically just the elderberry extract without the echinacea and other flavorings. I expected it to be somewhat bitter, but I found it quite good. Much thicker and syrupy and less sweet, but a good addition to a hot herbal tea with a bit of sugar or honey.
And as another note, Terry from Stuff I Feel Like Writing About is embarking on a similar route to herbal health through the mystical elderberry. I look forward to seeing how it works for her too. 
Tags: health effects · uncategorized
During my recent trip to Canada, I had the opportunity to try the Elderflower Presse drink I’d posted about, and it was quite good. I could definitely taste the elderberry in it, which was surprising since I’d thought the berry extract would taste much different than the elderflower. But then again, my Sambu Guard does have elderberry fruit and flower concentrate, so maybe I’m tasting the flower in both?
The nutrition facts for Elderflower Presse are as follows (8 oz. serving): 50 calories, .5 g fat, 12 g carbs as sugar, and 10% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. Sweetened with cane sugar, and has no aspartame or phenylalaline. The drink is clear and sparkly, and comes in large and small bottles. I believe the small bottle (250 ml) was around $1.59 CAD, and the large (750 ml) was around $2.99 CAD at Shoppers Drug Mart in Ontario.
It’s mild and refreshing, and not too fruity. My only issue with Elderflower Presse was that it seemed a little sweet, but as someone who has drunk diet soft drinks for 25 years, my taste is so acclimated to the diet sweeteners that anything with natural sugars tends to seem overly sweet to me.
My personal taste in elderberry sparkling drinks still leans toward my other favorite concoction, which is Sprite Zero and a dash of Sambu Guard.
Sprite Zero has no sugar, carbs or caffeine, but it does have aspartame and phenylaline, which may have some health drawbacks, depending on who you ask. Sambu Guard’s nutrition info is as follows (1 tbsp. serving): 20 calories, 5 g carbs as sugar, and 80 mg (135% of the recommended daily allowance) of vitamin C. So with this one, you get fewer calories, less sugar, more vitamin C, and in my opinion, a less sugary taste… plus you can adjust the amount of fruity flavor by just adding more or less of the Sambu Guard.
To sum up - Elderflower Presse is more natural and probably less likely to cause cancer in lab rat tests. Sprite Zero/Sambu Guard is less fattening and has more vitamin C. Which is better for you? Probably the one without artificial sweeteners, but since a) it’s not available where I live in Texas, and b) I’ve already resigned myself to a diet soda addiction, I’ve been happy to at least replace my old standby of diet coke with the Sprite/Sambu combination.
Tags: food & drink
In compiling some more recipes for the site, I found this product, made by Kraft: Sure Jell fruit pectin. I didn’t think too much of it, other than to work it into a new page of jam and jelly recipes for the site, but when I read the customer reviews I couldn’t help but get excited. In case anyone out there is jelly-deprived (and cooking-impaired) the way I am, this looks like a good shortcut to elderberry jelly!
Tags: food & drink · recipes
This post on berry bushes in New Mexico gardens lists out quite a few varieties of small fruit, including tayberries, currants, gooseberries, elderberries and bush cherries, along with some basic growing info on each. Not much here I haven’t seen before, but they refer to the American elder, or Sambucus canadensis, as the “sweet elder,” which was a new reference for me. (After a bit more research, it seems that’s a common nickname for the canadensis, so into the “about elderberries” page it goes!)
Also of note in this article in the reminder that even if I get my elderberry bushes planted this spring, which I’m hoping to do, they won’t flower for a year or more, since fruit is usually produced on the limbs that are 1-3 years old. Bummer…
Tags: growing & harvesting
February 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment
I had a request as to whether elderberries and Queen Anne’s Lace were the same thing, and I have to say I thought that too when I was in the Missouri Ozarks a couple years ago, even to the point of snapping a photo to check it out later.
But as shown in the photo above, Queen Anne’s Lace is a cluster of tiny white flowers on a long, spindly stem with small leaves, while elderberries are a large, full bush with multiple clusters and many long, pointed thin leaves. (For a bit more detail on Queen Anne’s Lace and its relation to the carrot, try this link.) Below is a photo of elderberries taken from the same area (note they’re also slightly dusty from being next to dirt roads) before the flowers have fully bloomed, making the clusters seem slightly flatter than they can get at their prime.
Tags: growing & harvesting
This post from Delicious Days is absolutely gorgeous - one of my favorites I’ve found on the web. Excellent photography and photo quality, and closeups of the delicate flower clusters and tiny not-yet-grown berries. Includes step by step descriptions of making elderflower fritters and elderflower cordial (note this is elderflower, not elderberry syrup).
Tags: food & drink · recipes
It’s been a while since I posted anything about the progress of this site, so I figure it’s about time. I gave the site a facelift last night, and while I really liked the pretty green of the former look, I think this one will be easier to expand as I continue to collect more elderberry info. Plus I finally found a template I could adapt with my own elderberry photos, taken while driving through Arkansas and Missouri a couple years ago. I’m not terribly fond of the utter whiteness of the new look, but I’ll work in some color over time.
I’m currently expanding the recipe section into multiple pages, as well as including a brief list of ingredients and general time requirements on each recipe, to make it easier for visitors to scan them and determine which ones they’re most interested in reading more about. I’m also watching the search terms that people are using to find this site, as a way to get an idea of what questions the site should be able to answer. How am I doing? What’s the site missing? Did it give you what you were looking for? Feel free to comment and let me know!
Tags: about this site
January 29th, 2008 · 2 Comments
A reader of this site just posted that he has quite a few elderberries available, so I thought I’d repost his info for anyone looking for a person-to-person source.
Ulrich writes, “I have elderberries here in Oklahoma and am looking for new places to sell destemmed berries. I have about 400 lbs in freezer from last season. They are in gallon ziplocks, some in 30lb boxes and 1 130lb box, all in freezer. These berries are from a plot that i planted to try them out for this region. They are doing well and I put them under drip irrigation to help them thru the dry spells we have here. Hope to set up a way to get these berries to public to be used for cooking, etc.”
In case anyone is looking to buy, his email is robcrkranch@hotmail if anyone wants to contact him.
Thanks, Ulrich!
Tags: growing & harvesting
This photo from the King Country Plant Guide shows a good closeup of the flowering stage of Sambucus racemosa, or the red elderberry. (Remember, this is the elderberry that grows in cooler North American climates, and should not be eaten!) You can really see the difference between the fist-sized bunched appearance of the racemosa flowers versus the flatter, wider flower clusters of the Sambucus nigra and canadensis (the black, purple and dark blue elderberries that are most often eaten). This photo shows an entire red elderberry shrub - sizable, but smaller than its wild nigra and canadensis counterparts. And in this photo, there’s certainly no confusion as to which kind of elderberry this is… look at those beautiful red berries! Too bad they should be left for the birds.
Tags: growing & harvesting
This post from Prodigal Gardens Medicinal Herbs and Wild Foods lists out some of the natural crops that arrive in September, including acorns, walnuts, hickory nuts, wild grapes, and of course, elderberries. Includes some photos and quite a few links to elderberry products and other information.
Tags: food & drink · growing & harvesting
