i dont know whether elderflower berries are eatible or not. i ate some and they didnt give me a tummy ache,so??? does any1 know if u hav 2 turn em into wine or not... :) thank you, Ruth
yes, absolutely!
you can eat them fresh, freeze them (for later use, like hot with sugar over some vanilla ice cream), make jam, make sweet soup, make jelly etc etc
i wish i had some near by because the jelly/jam and soup are my absolute favourites - and jampacked with vitamin C too!
Both me & OH were always told that elder berries had to be made into wine as they are poisonous to eat raw. The fermentation process makes the poison harmless. :)
According to google, the seeds are toxic, hence in winemaking they would not be a problem, as would drinking the juice ...
Derekthefox :D
You can't eat any green part of the elderberry, or the seed.
De-stem them by running a fork through the bunches to pull off the berries.
Crush the berries to get the juice.
Then do what you will with it - elderberry jelly, or better still elderberry wine.
thats strange-none of you agree!!!! ??? i didnt think they were poisinous,they didnt do me any harm!!!
ruth
:oooo er.... I've eaten them on several occasions - mostly raw on my porridge sprinkled with sugar for the crunch!!.....or very slightly warmed thru in the saucepan with some sugar and had with ice cream or still on the porridge....no ill affects as far as I can remember!
There seems to be a lot of disagreeance on this. Some say teh ripe fruit and flowers are okay raw, others say only if cooked. The rest of teh plant is always poisonous raw.
I have eaten the berries since I was knee high to a grass hopper.
well in that case amph......I shall carry on eating them when I get the chance, which isn't often :( cos I like em!
I have an elder in my hedge (ideal for keeping witches off), but I've always left the berries for the birds. maybe I should try some myself.
Well, I used to make magic potions out of them when i was about 7.......now make wine, think i prefer the wine... though squishing them up with ivy leaves, mud and rose petals did hold a kinda je ne sais quoi......;D ;D ;D
Lottie
Can still smell the b l oo dy perfume n all lottie.....eeeeeeeewwwwww
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Well, that's what you get for removing peg provided....... ::)
Lottie ;D ;)
Or could it be your home made soup..??? rofpml
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o :o
Jags, you really should know better by now....... ::)
(http://bestsmileys.com/hitting/2.gif)
MMM some mention home made soup?
hehehe
Derekthefox :D
Elderberries ARE posioness they contain prussic acid which if taken in quantiy will kill you. I use tye berries to make wine which is ok because the prussic acid is heavy and falls top the bottom of the dimijohn in the form of a sluge. I rack of the top leaave to clear bottle let to mature for about 6 months
Make pretty excellent jam too, am tucking into toast with elderberry and apple jam on right now - delicious! the recipe is on here - search the recipes thread.
Quote from: powerspade on October 15, 2005, 08:26:23
Elderberries ARE posioness they contain prussic acid which if taken in quantiy will kill you. I use tye berries to make wine which is ok because the prussic acid is heavy and falls top the bottom of the dimijohn in the form of a sluge. I rack of the top leaave to clear bottle let to mature for about 6 months
The Prussic acid is in the pits, like with apples, if you spit out the seed you're fine.
Incidentally prussic acid (Hydrogen Cyanide) is in scores of pitted fruits, as well as a major element in tobacco and polluants.
I used to eat apples whole, core and all, without any negative effects, now I ensure I don't eat them.
Well didn't know that about apple pips! Have been eating them core and all for years....may explain a few things though ::) ;D Lottie
There are lots of eldeberry trees growing along the river here. One day I decided to taste the berries and was amazed at how bitter and dry they were. Never touched them since although you CAN make nice wine out of them. So says my good friend Derek.
;) :D ;D
Sambucus canadensis:
Poisonous Part
  Leaves, twigs (stems), roots, unripe fruits.
Edibility
  EDIBLE PARTS: Cooked berries edible in pies, pancakes, and jellies; flowers and fruits used in wine making. SAFE HANDLING PROCEDURES: When flowers are open, pick whole clusters and dip in pancake batter and fry, or dip in batter and fry as fritters. Elderberry juice can be used as a cold drink. SOURCE: Peterson, L. 1978. A Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 330 pp.
Toxic Principle
  Cyanogenic glycoside and alkaloid.
Severity
  CAUSES ONLY LOW TOXICITY IF EATEN
< ... I just LUV Google   {:¬)#
Thank you amphibian, about the prussic acid. Apparently it is the same acid which is present in almonds etc, to which I have a nasty reaction.
I never knew this, but am now enlightened.
Derekthefox :D
talking of pips & things as we were above (apples).....I also almost always eat the whole pear - core, pips an all....does the same apply re the prussic acid?
Quote from: Hot_Potato on October 15, 2005, 22:34:55
talking of pips & things as we were above (apples).....I also almost always eat the whole pear - core, pips an all....does the same apply re the prussic acid?
Pears do indeed contain cyanide, it seems the rose and plum family do.
If you crush teh leaves you should be able to detect an almond smell, this is the cyanide, which explains why I have always distrusted almonds.
Intrestingly enough bitter almonds contain enough cyanide to possibly kill a child after eating only three. Sweet almons trees are considered safe, though the trees will still produce the occasional almond with cyanide levels comparable to the bitter almond. These bitter almonds, born of a sweet almond tree, account for 1% of the crop of the sweet almond. Therefore with poor luck or upon eating many many almonds, serious levels of toxicity could apply.
this is fascinating.
some old recipes that I have come across for jams etc actually suggest cracking a few kernels and adding the nuts into the mix to enhance the flavour, wonder if they knew what they were adding to the mix!
everything in moderation :-\
Research is necessary here. Low levels of cyanide are processed differently and may actually have beneficial effects:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/bt/chemical_terrorism/cyanide_general.htm
QuoteHow does cyanide act in the body?
After exposure, cyanide quickly enters the bloodstream. The body handles small amounts of cyanide differently than large amounts. In small doses, cyanide in the body can be changed into thiocyanate, which is less harmful and is excreted in urine. In the body, cyanide in small amounts can also combine with another chemical to form vitamin B12, which helps maintain healthy nerve and red blood cells. In large doses, the body’s ability to change cyanide into thiocyanate is overwhelmed. Large doses of cyanide prevent cells from using oxygen and eventually these cells die. The heart, respiratory system and central nervous system are most susceptible to cyanide poisoning.
Derekthefox
can i just add that i don't think it is very wise to test whether things are poisonous by eating them and waiting to see if anything happens!! naughty naughty :-[
No - that's a job for somebody else.
;D ;D ;D
Well, I shall be harvesting plenty on Wednesday to make this years batch of elderberry and kirsch jelly. YUM!
Not for me though thank you EJ !
Derekthefox :D
well I gave you a warning about eating the berries there was no need for people to send me abusive emails. I never thought I would meet such nasty people on this site never mind I wont bother any of you again
Who sent you a nasty email Powerspade ? ? ?  ??? ??? ???
im siging off I will not be back
Please don't let one bad apple ruin the whole barrel ! :-[
Don't take it that way; it's a fact of life on the Net that you'll occasionally get nasty Emails if you post regularly. It's just the odd nutter so delete them and forget them, or complain to the ISP and forget them.
I endorse what Robert has said... If it was abusive personal messages, you can block the sender, and report the matter to our administrator Dan ...
Just don't take it personally, this forum is too good to let things like that ruin your enjoyment.
Derekthefox :D
Powerspade (if you do come back and read this)
what a shame if someone did send you a horrid email because of some comments about elderberries! I would also like to think it was unrelated to this site and this is certainly not the impression I have ever got from here.
I removed my email address from my profile a while back as out of curiousity I typed my surname into google and it took me straight to my profile on here with my email address on it.
Powerspade I am so very sorry to read of your troubles.
I would like you to know that up till now I was supremely ignorant about the content of fruit pips, and other things for that matter even spinach! :o And for this information I am grateful. So thank you all for the education.
Having read the link that Derek put up, I was glad to see that under normal circumstance the cyanide leaves the body in the usual way within a day.
This is very reassuring. ;)
Powerspade, horrible as it must have been to receive those emails, try and think of it as how teeny tiny someones brain must be, when the highlight of their day, is sending nasty emails about elderberries.....If was me, I'd be back, far more opiniated than before!! So, come on!! Before I eat wrong thing again... ::) Lottie
Quote from: powerspade on October 17, 2005, 00:26:34
well I gave you a warning about eating the berries there was no need for people to send me abusive emails. I never thought I would meet such nasty people on this site never mind I wont bother any of you again
Abusive emails, really?
My god.
Time we laid this to rest , if he/she will not respond , then we have no other option but to seek closure on this. I for one am genuinely upset that (alledgedly) one of us would appear to have transgressed the unwritten rules governing acceptable behaviour , however , since we have no point of reference .. we must bring the curtain down on it and move forward ... < ... personally .. I've got an an allotment to deal with ! *shivers* .. so daisymay .. have you had a look at it ? ... be honest ! {:¬ (
Instead of waiting for the berries to form, try making elderflower fritters, scrummy!
Quote from: gardenqueen on October 18, 2005, 08:17:59
Instead of waiting for the berries to form, try making elderflower fritters, scrummy!
I've never tried that, sounds good.
Quote from: AikenDrum on October 17, 2005, 23:42:04
< ... personally .. I've got an allotment to deal with ! *shivers* .. so daisymay .. have you had a look at it ? ... be honest !  {:¬ (
we did have a stroll down to be honest..... erm.... give it a mow, would be perfect for crocquet! ;D
You don't seem to have our bindweed problem too bad over your side, but you appear to have my share of couch grass, so I guess we are quits?!? :)
Good luck and see you down there soon no doubt!
Well, that confirms it, it's couch grass, wasn't sure as I'm a total no-knowledge. If/when it gets rotivated, will the problem just completely resurface ? (unintentional pun)
Is there a weed killer that I should use just this once ? {:¬)#
Oh my, don't rotivate couch grass! Every single little bit of root you cut in half and half again will grow and your crop of couch will multiply tenfold! I have no idea on weedkillers I'm afraid, I am a digger. My plot number 2 looked like a footy pitch when I took it on, but gradually I have cleared all of the couch and when some springs up from deep deep within the bowels of the earth, I dig a little more!
Darn, never had a plot b4 and the council said they would rotivate it the first time for free. Thought they were doing me a favour and said yes ! {:¬ (
Wonder if I can cancel it ...