One of the main herbs at the center of herbal learning is elderberry
Are you using elderberries in your herbal medicine making?
I sat down with Tina Glaessner, owner of Crimson Sage Nursery and herb grower for 30 years and we did a deep dive into everything possible about growing elderberry.
In about 45 minutes I think we cover it all:
- What is the best way to get elderberry started where you live
- What do elderberry plants need and how to take care of them when you first plant them
- What are the best climates for growing elderberry
- Which varieties are the best to use for medicine making
- How long do you have to wait before you can make herbal medicine with your elderberry
- Mistakes you want to avoid so you can get maximum berry growth for making medicines
Click here to access the How to Grow Elderberry Tutorial
I was at the grocery store the other day. There was a GIANT display of elderberry medicines with signs about how everyone needs to take elderberry to prepare for the winter.
Hundreds of thousands of families are onboarding into the world of herbs as part of their pro-active health care plan.
20 years ago, I couldn’t even have imagined how much herbs are being used now. It was the dream I had, to help people get off drugs and their damaging side effects and learn to work with herbs to support health.
I would definitely say the tide has turned, herbs are being used so much more than even 5 years ago. Herbal supplement sales increased 7.7% in 2016 alone and it is continuing to grow.
People don’t want to fall victim to medication side effects, they want to feel confident in knowing how to prevent sickness and the movement to be more connected to our food and medicine sources just keeps growing.
This is all a good thing, AND one of the main herbs at the center of all the new herbal learning is elderberry.
Ok, let’s dig into what is happening with elderberry.
Have you ever run into not being able to purchase elderberries?
More and more online distributors are running out earlier every year.
Major herb distributors are engaged in global recon missions looking for new sources for importing elderberries into the United States to meet the rapidly growing demand for elderberries.
One elderberry broker said he had orders for 40,000 more pounds than what he could fill.
Another elderberry distributor said they’ve gone on elderberry search trips to Europe to try and find more elderberries to fill their back orders and wait list. But even with the biggest imports ever from Albania, the word is: OUT OF STOCK.
For 25 years I’ve mostly harvested fresh elderberries for my home needs. But have relied on the push of a button to order dried elderberries to have enough for my students and clients. I could purchase dried elderberries any time of the year – and get as much as I wanted.
Not anymore. Those days are gone!
Elderberry syrup is one of the most popularized home remedies and now that people are really getting serious about trying to avoid the damage of medications and anti-biotics, families are seeking elderberry medicine to help them prevent winter sickness.
Our local store sells 5 oz. of elderberry syrup for $20.73. If a cold starts to brew in our house, we’ll use 20 oz. in one week. It’s simply not affordable if you are helping your entire family fight off a flu…
There are hundreds of blogs teaching how to make elderberry syrup and as the demand for elderberries continues to grow, the price of elderberries and elderberry products is just going to go up.
Why am I talking about all of this? Well as you may have guessed, I am of the opinion that we need to start growing more elderberry!
To support this effort, I created this How to Grow Elderberry audio tutorial.
Tina and I distill elderberry growing into a potent 45-minute conversation on how to get started, what you need to know about growing elderberry and how to avoid some of the common mistakes that people run into when trying to grow elderberry.
Elderberry is relatively easy to grow and maybe you’ll be able to grow your own, save a bunch of money and provide amazing medicine for your community.
Maybe it’s time to start growing elderberry in every neighborhood. I envision pharmacy gardens on every block…
Get the How to Grow Elderberry audio tutorial and see if where you live is a good fit for growing your own potent medicine.
Leave me a comment. Are you growing elderberry? Where do you live and are you able to make medicine with the elderberry you grow…
I have a tiny plant in a pot .. going to watch video on how/when/where to plant…it might be late in the season and I hope I can tend the plant til spring….I’ll do my best by my little plant.. Thanks for awesome article on all things elderberry….Linda
For herb fans on the east coast and especially in New England, FEDCO Seeds is a cooperative selling seeds, plants, bulbs, trees and tubers. I have been buying from them for 35 years. They are a good company, so in case you want to buy local, you can find them at Fedcoseeds.com
Thanks for the resource Mary!
Moved to the Ozarks in 1999. Realized elderberry was growing on a neighbors fence line. Was given permission to pick them and have been making an elderberry tonic for family and friends ever since. Moved to drying the berries and packaging them with ginger, cloves, cinnamon to make a quart with each bag. Have started, with the help of volunteers from berries I dropped while stripping, seven elderberry patches on my rural property. I now take a small dose of elderberry each day for my arthritis. My husband was bus driver for an elementary school for three years and he… Read more »
Great information, thank you. About two years ago I planted a young elderberry bush in the garden. It grew very well but it only ever once had one flower, nothing since. I must find out what I am doing wrong. I’m Belgian and as kids we used to get a spoon of elderberry syrup once a day during colds and flu seasons in winter. I swear by the benefits of it.
Wildcrafting Sambucus Mexicana in Oregon’s Coastal Range, and I was gifted two Elderberry Plants of forgotten species… I’m looking forward to when they set fruit so that I may better identify them!
I have two elderberry bushes that I have been waiting to plant in my backyard. I am going to listen to your tips and hope that I have success with growing them. Thank you for sharing this resource!
Hi Kami, We planted several elderberry bushes in our back yard 4 years ago now. I have not been able to harvest anything but flowers, as we have so many deer that eat both the flowers and the fruits. Insect damage to the fruits is also a big problem, and birds will eat the fruits also. I live in Northeast GA and Sambucus canadensis is native here and grows wild, usually along the side of the road. Not sure about harvesting it there! I have pretty much come to the conclusion that it might be better just to harvest and… Read more »
No, you don’t want to harvest near roads.
Hi Kami, I look forward to hearing your experiences growing Elderberry. One of my favorites! I’ve got one European Elderberry plant growing, I think this is it’s third year. Last year it gave me a small amount of berries which I dried as I like to add them to my herbal tea blends. This year I had some to dry plus this weekend made Elderberry syrup (based on Rosemary Gladstar’s recipe) which yielded eight 8 ounce jars which I canned, and another pint which is in the fridge to use up on the next few month. It’s a beautiful plant… Read more »
Growing elderberry. Central Texas. First year plants. It’s kind of winter here and they lost their leaves just put on new leaves, still in 5 gallon buckets. We put them by our drain from the kitchen so they would get plenty of water. We got our plants, lol sticks, from the Mother Earth New fair last February, So we haven’t picked or made anything with the fruit. We will see how they produce this year. I did take some cuttings from them to plant more as they grow. The challenge will be, if I can keep them happy with water… Read more »
Thanks so much, Kami, for your generosity in providing this info… & I LOVE this quote: “I envision pharmacy gardens on every block…” Yes!!