Devonviolet Acres

[Ridgetop]

That syrup is so pretty - what is the flavor like? I love the idea that you can use wild stuff some people consider weeds to make stuff. I love gathering free stuff for jam and jelly - I did blackberries and mulberries last year at my aunt's old farm in Yelm WA. What do your elderberries taste like? I picked a lot of elderberries to try to use for jelly 2 years ago but they were very bitter with an odd flavor - maybe combined with some other fruit they would be better. I never thought of using the flowers for a syrup. I have heard of making elderberry wine.

 

[Mini Horses]

Happy the Farmer Market thing is working for you -- but, do try to pop on and say all is "OK" -- -- then we don't worry it is not. Was wondering "where you were".

Ahhh, trees coming down always a concern. Seems there is always "one" that won't cooperate. I've had to rope & pull a few when daughter is cutting for winter wood. On one I hooked to the trunk and pulled sideways, then the top flopped off & the tree fell. Actually, it was because we could not get through to hook up any other way -- not genius on my part

Do you just cut the flower pod on those Queen Anne & simmer in water? Taste? Any other use? Those grow here everywhere, I cut them when mowing.

How are your elderberry bushes? Found a place not far with potted ones, bearing, for sale. This year I want to locate and expand my wild Beauty Berries.

Like your lasagna garden. I know how well that Bermuda grows and expands it's territory! It is great for summer pastures.....some of mine is so thick I can't find the soil until it is dormant. In fact, it is a chore to mow where the animals have fertilized it. Can't let it get too high or I have to use the bushhog. Mine is mostly a variety grown for hay, so it will get higher than many varieties seen in yards. Free seed from hay I fed. Nice.

 

[Devonviolet]

That syrup is so pretty - what is the flavor like? I love the idea that you can use wild stuff some people consider weeds to make stuff. I love gathering free stuff for jam and jelly

It’s hard to describe the flavor, of this syrup. Kind of mild and floral. To make safe non-acidic jellies, you have to add lemon juice, to increase acidity. So, it also has a citrusy flavor. I had about a cup and a half left, after filling the four half gallons. So it went into the fridge. Then I got a brainstorm, after working outside, in the heat. I added Pellarginio (carbonated water) to it and it made an amazing fizzy drink!!!

Here are a couple shots of the field, where we picked all those Queen Anne’s Lace flowers

I, too, love to be able to harvest wild foods. Years ago, at the beginning of my journey into a natural/alternative lifestyle, DH and I joined a “Weed Walk”, taught by an amazing 90 year old woman. Grace LeFever took us on a walk around her property, talking about all that can be done with with weeds, to improve our health. At the end of the walk, she took the weeds, that she collected and made a yummy green drink.

Happy the Farmer Market thing is working for you -- but, do try to pop on and say all is "OK" -- -- then we don't worry it is not. Was wondering "where you were".

Do you just cut the flower pod on those Queen Anne & simmer in water? Taste? Any other use? Those grow here everywhere, I cut them when mowing.

How are your elderberry bushes? Found a place not far with potted ones, bearing, for sale. This year I want to locate and expand my wild Beauty Berries.

Like your lasagna garden. I know how well that Bermuda grows and expands it's territory!

I’m sorry to be incommunicado for so long. After multiple long days, i was too tired to even think of getting on BYH. Other times, I took photos to post, and then fell asleep in my chair, before I could start a post.

Yes, i take scissors with me, when I pick the flower heads. I slightly open the scissors, and slip them along the stem, up to the flower head and snip. It was actually fun and easy. When we had decided we had enough, I couldn’t stop picking them on the way out of the field. To make the syrup, I put the flower heads in water and simmer them, to make a tea. After straining the flower heads out, I add the sugar and lemon juice and simmer for 20 minutes.

Our Elderberry bushes are full of flower heads this year. Last year, we only got a few. I couldn’t bring myself to pick them for Elderflower jelly. I made syrup from those berries, as well, and canned it for future use. Again, the flavor is mild and citusy, but different from the Queen Anne’s Lace syrup.

On our way to Sulphur Springs one day, I saw lots of Elderberry plants, with their beautiful white flower heads, along the roadside. So, we went back the next morning. Most of the flowers weren’t fully open, so we left those and plan to go back in August, to pick lots of berries.

Yes, the berries are bitter, and the seeds are toxic, when consumed. By cooking the berries and squeezing the juice out, you don’t eat the seeds. The beauty of Elderberries, is their health benefit. I cook the berries with ginger, until the berries sink. I strain the juice out and add raw, unfiltered local honey, which has multiple health benefits.

We take this syrup during flu season, because it is strongly antiviral and immune building. If we take one tablespoon throughout the season, we pretty much stay flu free. If we start to get a cold or are exposed to someone with the flu, we start taking one tablespoon three times a day. This past winter, when the flu was so bad, we were exposed to people with the flu, but never got the flu. A few times, I started getting a cold, but increased my dosing. Within three days, i started feeling better, and it never progressed into my lungs, the way it did with everyone else i know.

This is the first time i ever did the lasagna garden. I was telling @goatgurl, how frustrated we were, trying to get rid of the Bermuda grass, when figuring out where to put a vegetable garden. She suggested the Lasagna garden. I had never heard of it. But after looking it up, it made sense. We have an area, outside the chicken yard, that isn’t sprayed by the septic sprayers. So, we shall see how it works.

 

[Ridgetop]

That drink sounds amazing! I am going to save your recipe. I think there is wild QAL in my aunt's pasture. On the other hand I don't want to poison the family. LOL I better make sure that it IS QAL before I try the recipe. If you are doing the Farmers Market you could also probably sell the syrup with a recipe to make the Pellegrino drink.

I wonder if we have the same Elderberries. We have Elderberry trees, small that lose their foliage in the winter. The berries are black when ripe and the birds love them. I think there is a green kind too. The sheep will eat them too if they are low enough. They keep the trees trimmed pretty high though.

So exciting when a new thing comes off successfully!

 

[Bruce]

Yeah, you want to stay away from poison parsnip. The flowers look like QAL but are yellow.

 

[Ridgetop]

Good advice!

 

[Mike CHS]

I had no idea that Queen Anne's Lace was edible.

 

[greybeard]

Greybeard - So pessimistic! LOL Better to cut than no graze or fires.

I graze, which leaves no dry cuttings. and you aren't the only one that has to deal with a National Forest all around you. 6 car lengths from my front door Sam Houston Nat Forest begins and it surrounds my place.

I am the boot shaped area, and the green around it is Nat Forest...about 160,000 acres of it.

 

[greybeard]

I had no idea that Queen Anne's Lace was edible.

Just make sure....
(my PSA for the day)
http://www.ravensroots.com/blog/2015/6/26/poison-hemlock-id

 

[Devonviolet]

I wonder if we have the same Elderberries. We have Elderberry trees, small that lose their foliage in the winter. The berries are black when ripe and the birds love them. I think there is a green kind too.

They most likely are the same Elderberries. They are actually a bush, but they can get to 8 feet tall, so could be mistaken for a small tree. They do lose their leaves in Winter and the tiny berries are black.

I wonder if the green berries you see on bushes are what is called wild Privet. It has opposing, rounding oval, smooth edge leaves, and the green berries turn red in Fall.

Here in Texas, we have something called Yaupon. It is also called Chinese Holly. The leaves are similar size, although it has a scalloped edge & the leaves alternate on the stem. It also has red berries in the Fall. I think only the "male" plants have berries though.