Elderberry 24 pounds picked today.

[Millymollymandy]

Here's some photos - of course the battery ran out after I'd only taken 4, as is always the way!

Noticed the berries were much larger yesterday too - I don't think the small amount of rain could have done it unless the bush took the moisture in through the leaves, or more likely perhaps because of 2 cool cloudy days allowing it to take moisture from the barely trickling stream and not lose it through transpiration.... but it has made a big difference in the fruit size!

Main bush with smaller bush to right and taller hazelnut far right - think main bush is about 15 foot high. Walnut on the left. Stream is down a gully behind the elders about 6 foot lower than the ground here.

[Durgan]

Those are quality berries. Mine were not nearly as good this year. Thanks for the peek.

Actually your berries are slightly oval, unless that is a camera artifact. the black color is perfect.

[MKG]

I'm disappointed

I was expecting a photo of MMM standing in a stream with leaky wellies.

That's MMM with the leaky wellies, not the stream.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

They are oval Durgan, and I've just looked back at yours and yours are round - well done for spotting that as I hadn't noticed! Must be the difference between European and Canadian Sambucus.

The berries were a fair bit bigger in the photos than earlier as I said - but there are not huge amounts on each berry cluster. Still plenty more for me to harvest if I can find the time (mother arriving on Tuesday!!!) - I only need another 400g or so to make my 2 recipes......

Mike, I was alone as I would have liked a photo of me in front of the bush just to show the height, so that's why I put my trug there to give a very vague idea of scale.

Now I need to take some photos of my loaded apple trees, which I was in the process of doing when the battery ran out!

[Durgan]

http://www.durgan.org/URL/?BEGVV 26 August 2011 Elderberry Twenty pounds Processed.

Twenty pounds of elderberries were picked and made into juice. Procedure was remove from support structure, wash, boil gently, and beat into a mash. Strain through a fine screen mesh. Pressure can at 12 PSI for 15 minutes for long term storage at room temperature.It takes about two pounds of berries to make a liter of juice.This will be the last of the elderberry processing for the 2011 season. About 50 pounds were picked and processed this year.

[Millymollymandy]

Wow well done - hope I get time tomorrow to pick a few more but got friends coming this afternoon and I've been busy cleaning the house before family arrive - usually just leave the housework as garden more important but once in a while it has to be the other way round!