You still have those tiny stems to deal with. 😳 The one thing I hate about elderberry.

@@Momma_Tomma Very few, if any.

Never works for me...I get stems and berries

I guess that’s why strainers were invented 🤷🏽‍♀@@maried3717

Have you ever made an elderberry tinchure with frozen berries?

I'm so glad! There's an elderberry bush in my back yard that "accidentally" got mowed. Things are growing back quite nicely.

Brandy for Brandy. 👍🙂

I put fence wire around my bushes to keep the deer off.

You have very healthy deer.😃😃

Maybe prune it and that will get you more berries. My wife has made elderberry syrup in past years. She prefers that to tincture. Sweet beats bitter for palatability. But if you have to buy the honey, it can get expensive. I've heard of the comb idea, but not tried it. Another technique that works well is to put stems with berries on a tray in the freezer. Once frozen, the berries fall off easily. We've done that with good results. Thanks for the comment.

Even faster way...., freeze the bouquets for at least 24 hours then slap the frozen bouquets around in a 5 gallon bucket, then use a window screen as a filter shaking it as you tilt it towards another bucket. The screen will grab the stems and let the berries roll out clean. Repeat as necessary. I've also hung bouquets over a string (on north side of house or in the shade of trees) and let dry for a month-ish. Crush dried bouquets over bucket and use screen to remove stems. Fresh / frozen berries - I extract juice with a steam extractor and steam can (1/2 tsp citric acid/quart). 3 pounds berries = 1 quart juice = 1 gallon wine

@@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 Great ideas, thanks!

@@carfvallrightsreservedwith6649 Thanks, you answered my question about 'how long to leave them in the freezer.'

I'd just cut it back my friend does and hers just keeps growing ... you can do cuttings from Yours aswell, they root very easily

I leave them in until the contents gets real low, then press the berries to get the last of the juice.

Thank you. I don't know how the evaporation idea will work. Yes, you should plant a couple elderberry. 👍

Try using 1 part local honey to 1 part elderberry. Cover and burp jar daily for 2 weeks (turn jar over each day to keep berries coated). ...when burping jar don't open to let oxygen in- just barely twist lid to allow gasses out. It will ferment and make honey thin out. After 2+ weeks strain berries and use fermented elderberry honey as you wish...shelf stable.

Use glycerine as an extraction element. That won't burn and will be good for kids. But you will probably want to dry your berries to get a reduced moisture content before starting a glycerine tincture.

Everclear is used for bark, branchy stuff, and tough leaves. It needs to be extra strong alcohol to pull out the constituents. For soft things like berries, you need a very low proof alcohol, 40-60 proof or even up to 80 proof if that's all you have. Tinctures last literally forever, but being able to use them easily without it burning so bad your mouth is scorched from Everclear is essential. You can add the Everclear version to water or tea or juice, but you can't take it straight. It can give your mouth, throat and stomach a chemical burn. So using the proper alcohol of 40-60 proof is really important unless you want to add the mixture to another liquid to buffer the Everclear. I'm an herbalist and have been trained on all this, and we use it exclusively on our homestead and I sell it too...

@@everythinghomestead9222 I'm curious what you think of what I was taught by another. I was taught to use Everclear with things that have a lot of moisture (leaves you have not dried, berries you have not dried, etc). And to use 80 proof alcohol on everything which has been dried. Does that fit with what you were trained in? Or does that go counter to what you were taught? Or is there some context I'm missing? Thank you.

Yes you can add other herbs. Add the honey in with your dose. Not the tincture. From what I’ve learned, if you add to the tincture then it’s a short shelf life. I’d love to hear differently if anyone else knows something.

Hi John, Yes, it keeps. I didn't use much of what I made last winter. Will have it for next year, and probably the year after.

I don't strain out the berries until the liquid in the jar is no longer swigable. Then I dump contents into a fine-screen sieve o drain and and press out some juice with spoon pressure. I don't try to squeeze out every last drop because it's more trouble than it's worth. Best wishes with your tincture.

@@herrickkimball I see some people crushing the berries before adding alcohol. What are your thoughts on that ? I'm getting ready to do this. I'll probably add ginger and cinnamon as well.

Yes. I think you might want to rehydrate before making the tincture. But not sure. You would want to research that.

two to three years. Some will say indefinitely.

I've never done it but I see no reason why not.

Only if you plan to eat the whole berry. The little pip inside is mildly toxic, so a few wont hurt but you wouldn't want to have a load of raw ones. It's just the 'good stuff' that will be extracted into the alcohol. If you're using the whole berries for a jam, pie or syrup then you need to cook them first. Any brandy should have a decent enough alcohol content to do the job, so whatever you like.

I don't know. Perhaps someone else can answer this...

I never heard of aronia berries, but I have made w blueberries and huckleberries. Depends what type of medicinal properties each plant has, and what ailments you want to use it for. Research your berries.

I'm not sure. I would give it a try if that's what you have, or what you like. My guess would be that it will do the job.

Hard to say. Alcohol has indefinite shelf life. I've used my own homemade tincture that was over three years old.

@herrickkimball ok well i used exactly what u did.

I've never cooked the berries for tincture. I don't think that is done. Perhaps cooking the berries is best when the seeds are going to be consumed?

North American elderberries do not need to be cooked. European elderberries contain a lot of cyanide and need to be cooked to remove it.

I plan to get a potato mound digging video made, for sure. But will wait to dig until the end of this month or early next. I'm in no hurry. It doesn't hurt to leave the potatoes in the soil and I think they store better if harvested later in the year.

@@herrickkimball thanks!

Yes

I don't drink it. I sip it. 😁

Thank you for the tip I needed that.. 👍

A lot of it has so do with the amount of water in the berry. If I'm using a normal proof like vodka or brandy, I dry the berries first.