When to pick elderberries

Harvest elderflowers between May and Mid Summer. Harvesting these can take place in late Summer until Mid Fall.

Elderflowers will emerge in their lace-like beauty in the spring be pollinated and then their berries form up as youd expect.

When to pick elderberries. From around August to October elderberries are in season and ready for picking. Theyre not grown commercially so if you want fresh berries be prepared to go foraging. Some varieties of elderberries can be toxic when eaten raw the best way to avoid this is to make sure you always cook your elderberries well first.

When to Harvest Elderberries Black elderberries are ready to harvest when the berries have turned a deep black color. The cluster also start to heavily droop downward. The berries dont all ripen at the same time so youll notice some clusters of berries are black or reddish-purple-black while other clusters are red and some are still green.

Elderberry shrubs bloom over the summer from June to August depending on the climate. Here in central Vermont they tend to flower in August. The berries soon follow ripening in late August or early September.

Make sure to harvest the fruits when they are fully ripe. Harvest elderflowers between May and Mid Summer. Wait until the flowers have just opened and it is a dry day.

We like to take only around 10 of a plants total flowers as the pollinators will then turn them into elderberries. Harvesting these can take place in late Summer until Mid Fall. You can find the elderberry bushes on the sides of rural roads.

I know Ive seen many on I-75 going up to northern Michigan. The berries are dark black and the leaves are a string of 5 leaves on one leaf. Do yourself a favor this year and pick some elderberries.

Or do what I do and buy some bushes for your yard. Depending upon where you live elderflowers are at their peak in late spring to early summer. In most regions mid-June seems to be the best time for picking.

If left to their own devices the flowers will turn into delicious dark purple berries around August which must be cooked to remove cyanidin glycoside. Elderberry harvest time The elderberries ripen between late September and October. Only harvest the fruits when as many berries as possible are ripe.

How to Pick Elderberries When you find a cluster thats ripe support the berries gently with one hand. With the other use your shears to cut. As you harvest lay each cluster in a shallow box or collecting container.

Be sure not to squish the berries down into. Strip the ripe berries from each. Pick elderberries when they are fully ripe in early autumn.

The bunches should be starting to droop downwards with the weight of the fruit. Use a fork or your fingers to gently prise the fruit away from the stalks. This can be a bit fiddly but you dont have to be too perfect with it -.

Blackberries mulberries and other berries may ripen over a few marvelous weeks. Elder trees are most peculiar however. Elderflowers will emerge in their lace-like beauty in the spring be pollinated and then their berries form up as youd expect.

Those first early formed berries are what Im picking through now. Elderberries may be purchased from a nursery or grown from cuttings obtained when the plant is dormant. If you want to harvest large amounts of elderberries its critical to fertilize the elderberry bush before picking.

Incorporate manure or compost into the planting process. When is the harvest season. Blue elderberry has a long harvest season that runs from mid-June to mid-September.

Peak harvest depends on environmental factors but has typically been reported in August. In California blue elderberries unlike American elderberries hold on the tree longer which allows for less frequent harvests. Elderberries are very small.

Pick whole clusters or use a dinner fork to strip berries from cluster stems. Store elderberries in a covered container in the refrigerator. Use elderberries in jams jellies and preserves also in pies and tarts.

Berries can be made into elderberry wine.