“When we first moved onto the farm I didn’t know much (or anything, really…) about wild crafting. But thanks to a wonderful birthday present from Brian (the book Northwest Foraging by Doug Benoliel) I have started to learn a thing or two.
I was very excited to discover that the tree on the farm which I had thought based on the book’s description was elderberry… was indeed, elderberry! And it was a VERY happy, very fertile, elderberry tree!
This is blue elderberry (Sambucus cerulean) not to be confused with red elderberry (Sambucus racemes) which are poisonous unless carefully prepared. The ideal time to harvest blue elderberries is when they are like the picture shows, covered with a powdered-sugar like whiteness. The berries are very tart and have little seeds inside…”
