Elderberries on Elder Road, by Becky
I grew up in a beautiful old house on a road named Elder Road in Bramley, Leeds. It was one of the oldest houses in the area, going back nearly 300 years, originally a farm, then a rope factory, and for us, a family home. At the time when my parents bought it no one wanted old, they wanted new, so it was within my parent’s financial reach and they spent years lovingly restoring it, and kept as many of it’s original features as they could.
We had a huge garden, and the bottom third of it was dad’s allotment where I spent a lot of my childhood ‘helping’. Here you can see me next to the chicken coop at feeding time.
I never found out how the road got its’ name, but there were many Elder Trees around us. (The photos were actually taken in the last year my parents lived there so the allotment was a bit disorderly, they were truly days filled with love and really happy memories.)
There were loads of Elder Trees around us, on our road and along the railway line at the bottom of our garden probably due to all the wildlife living along there, happily munching on the berries and then spreading the seeds... need I say more. Elder Trees grow fast and can often be found growing in hedgerows, on farmland, in areas where you find old historic buildings, in suburbia, on wasteland, they are very resilient!
“Feared by the devil. Favoured by foragers. Elder is the very essence of summer with its fragrant flowers and soot-dark fruits. It was said that an elder planted by your house would keep the devil away.”
There are conflicting thoughts about the Elder Tree ‘Sambucus nigra’ which has been used for thousands of years and considered sacred. Christians believe Judas Iscariot hung himself from an Elder Tree, Irish Folklore associates it with Witchcraft which I’m not going in to here. I like the brighter Folklore that the Elder tree is said to protect people and keep evil spirits away, so you are said to be very lucky if one self seeds near your house! In Celtic Folklore the tree is sacred and forbidden to be cut down, which could explain why so many have survived as they can live for 60 years. Elder is said to be one of the oldest ‘plant allies’ found in Stone Age sites and written about in the time of Hippocrates, and in ancient Greek times the hard wood was used to make a musical instrument shaped like a harp called the Sambucca, it’s music said to heal the soul.
“ Not only did the plant heal the body, it also made music to heal the soul!”
So the flowers and the berries have been used the world over for mystical, magical and - more useful to me - culinary purposes for centuries - like cordials, juices, syrups, wine and even jam to name a few. I remember the summer sun on the light, white clusters of scented flowers magically transforming in to heavy laden clusters or very dark, almost black, berries that stained our little fingers when we squashed them as Autumn began to arrive. Like all good parents and neighbours should, we grew up being told by them that we mustn’t eat the berries, as they are poisonous unless they have been cooked/heated/boiled.
This week I decided to pick some locally and make some syrup to support my parents immune system over the next few months, which is what elderberry syrup is traditionally used for. It’s loaded with good vitamins and minerals said to keep flu and colds at bay, or get rid of them faster! I’m no doctor, the syrup is not a medicine, it is a nutritious berry fruit that can be enjoyed. Obviously I’d recommend you do your own research before you attempt this.
So off I went for a walk yesterday with my lovely aunt and on a footbridge across a railway track we found lots of old Elder Trees, some looked like they’d been around for centuries. I’m used to finding smaller trees, and the young ones can even be like a cluster, almost like a bush, but these were huge and had at some time blown down in the wind but were still growing, lying up the bank leading down to the track side. So my aunt rummaged around and found a little plastic bag she had recycled in her handbag and I snipped a few sprigs of berries off, dropped them in the bag and off we tootled.
When I got home I rinsed them and lay them on a tray to dry. Today I carefully picked each little juicy berry off the stalks and put them in a pan, to which I added boiling water (I guessed how much to add - I used my instinct - but I know there are specific quantities for the best results if you prefer (which you can find easily online). I boiled them up, then simmered them for 30 or 40 minutes. I can’t remember exactly how long because I was multi tasking. They don’t need much attention at this stage.
The next job was to strain and bottle (I used an old pickled onion jar), and then after the liquid had cooled down, I added honey. It’s recommended to add as much honey as half the amount of strained liquid. This is now in my parents fridge, labelled ‘Elder Berry Syrup - 1 teaspoon a day - whenever.’ It can also be added to hot water to make a cup of tea. It smells lovely when it’s boiling, very comforting. It drifted through the whole house and once I’d finished I made myself a cup - It tastes like berry tea hee hee!
I will stress, you need to be careful because the unripe berries can be poisonous, and can really make your stomach bad but once the berries have been boiled, simmered for at least 30 mins to give enough time for all the goodness and oils to seep out of the berries and into the water, they’re no longer poisonous.
And the colour that comes out of them is beautiful, yet lethal on clothes! So be careful!
I’ve also been drying elderberries in my parent’s conservatory. It have never done it before, I like to try new things! I picked fresh elderberries (leaving some for the birds, animals and insects - I respect there is a balance to nature) and brought them home, washed them, lay them on trays to dry naturally in the conservatory. After a few days - in our recent heatwave - the berries are very dry and I’m adding them to a jar. I will discover how to use them as I go along, the obvious use is to steep them in boiled water for tea. I am sure there a lots of uses.
Thanks to -
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/british-trees/a-z-of-british-trees/elder/
https://www.herballegacy.com/Bond_History.html