Category: Elderberries

Elderberries

By Roberta Bailey Few plants are as carefree and easy to grow as elder or elderberries, Sambucus canadensis and S. nigra. Also known as common or American elder, this pest-free perennial shrub grows in many soil conditions and prefers the wetter areas where little else will thrive. Yet some people would ask why they should

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Elderberries

Edie Johnston and her son, Geo, have started Eldertide Pharm and Maine Medicinals in Dresden to develop medicinal products from organic elderberries and other antioxidant-rich berries that grow in Maine. Photo by Tina Fisher-Dark. By Rebecca Goldfine Edie Johnston is the kind of entrepreneur who doesn’t just focus on one idea. Instead, she’s cultivating several

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Elderberries

Elderberry makes good juice, wine, jam, syrup, medicines and more. Photo from Conservation Plants for the Northeast, Soil Conservation Service Program Aid No. 1154. By Roberta Bailey My first memory of elder bushes was in my best friend’s yard. Her father had a neat row of the plants, mulched with peanut hulls. He made wine

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Elderberries

Elderberry flowers make a soothing tea. Photo by Thomas G. Barnes @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. by Joyce White Robert Henderson comments in “The Neighborhood Forager” that the elderberry (genus Sambucus) “is a case study in the dramatic conversion of North Americans from largely self-sufficient peoples to consumers.” Because of its variety of uses, elder bushes

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