Friut I.D

[el wino]

Can some one I.D. this wild fruit or what ever it is.I found it growing along a fenceline down a deadend street leadind down to a small creek.I was
thinkingtheywereelderberries....I have two diferent berries.one is bigger than the other,with one being a clusters

 

[jobe05]

The first picture appears to be an elderberry.

The other pictures I can't be sure, but the leaf looks like a currant, possibly black currant, but not certain.

If you can taste a berry and desribe that to Wade, that may help, or look up Black currants online and see what you think.

 

[el wino]

here are other pics .I sqeezed them,the smaller one had more color purple to them than the bigger ones.They both had seeds in them.

 

[el wino]

thanks jobe05...the bigger ones had a egg white consistencey feel to them when i sqeezed out the seeds .(clear substance)or juice in this case.

 

[jobe05]

Here's a couple of pics that I got off line of a black currant:

One of the pics you posted seem to have a vine like attachment on it, is the bush you got those from a "Bush" or more like a Vine?

 

[grapeman]

The first one is definitely elderberry. Pick all of them you can at that ripeness and you can make a good wine. The second is probably black currant. The leaves sure look like it and the berries are like them also. You should only pick them when fully black or they are unripe. They also make a very good wine but it takes a lot of them.


One word of caution here********
Always try to get a positive ID on berries of any kind- some of them are very poisonous, even though they look tasty. Generally you want to stay away from some red and ALL white berries. Nightshade is an example of bad berries that look good. They grow in brushy edge land and are very poisonous. They will even kill cattle if they eat them. If not they will develop a bad case of scours and be very ill.


You could take a few berries and some foliage of questionable berries to you county extension office for an ID.


Nice find and good luck making some tasy wine if you have enough source of the fruit.

 

[Wade E]

El Wino, I have no idea what different fruits look like and have never tried Elderberry wine but have made Black Currant wine from Vintners Harvest wine base and it is awesome. If you can get enough even to make a small batch I suggest you do as you will not be disappointed! It has a lot of body and a taste all its own and makes a great wine and would make a great port also. Hopefully Walkers fruit farm in N.Y. will be offering this juice this year like Bill B. said they might as I will definitely like to buy some fresh juice this time. Every who tried this wine has loved it so far.

 

[el wino]

well.there is enough of both of them growing wild on that strecth of road..
tommarrow i will take my camera and take better pics of the plants growing.if that is elderberries i will cut the clusters and freeze them.or would i let them dry out ...what is the process when dealing with fresh elderberries............I may do that appleman for a positive I.D..Wade i will pick them now seems that they are already ripe...

 

[el wino]

thanks jobe05 they do look similiar//////////

 

[el wino]

Oh ,the large ones came off a vine and the smaller ones came off a bush.
here in pasadena.texas........

 

[Wade E]

Ive heard elderberries are a pain in the butt to clean the carboy after as they leave a green sludge in there. Better get a good supply of something like Straight-A which is a very strong chlorinated cleaner for when you need to clean your primary and definitely your primary.

 

[el wino]

will do wade...........going back tomarrow to if there is enough elderberries to pick to make a gallon batch..........

 

[grapeman]

You are good to go on the elderberres, but if the others were on a vine, I don't think they are currants-they grow on a compact bush. I would get a positive ID on that one.


As for the green goo, I don't think the Straight-A will touch it alone. You need to use a little vegetable oil on a rag and wipe everything down. Once you have contact with the oil, then it willl clean up OK with the cleanser. You will need about a half 5 gallon bucket full of whole clusters semi compacted for a gallon. That will give you a few pounds of cleaned berries. They freeze well if you don't have time to process at the time.

 

[el wino]

thanks appleman.I'll be going to work shortly so on the way if not after i willstop & pick some..I have been doing a serch for native wild berries for texas..I think the others may be mustang grapes....

 

[Cracked Cork]

Top one is elderberry for sure, there are some elderberry pics in my sig elderberry webpage. Bottom on I dont know but its out of season for black currants, they fruit early in the summer, and the leaves are composites, not a single leaf like the black currants and gooseberries have. I think you need to get some postitive ID on the last one before you go making wine out of it.

Appleman is right, some veg oil on anything that gets a little green goo on it and then washed with dish detergent to get rid of the oil.

Crackedcork

 

[OldWino1]

I do like the cans for fruit does take the guess work out I have even used benotite and iscling glass to speed up the process not to 6 weeks but less that 3 months it would usually take. and the wines have come out crystal clear and very tasty after a little aging. I have found that apricot and peach can be fermented dry and bottled and aged to a pretty good wine with meals

 

[el wino]

Cracked Cork thank you for the pos.I.D. on the elderberries.I will try to get as much of the tiny red stems the berries are attached too.And use your tip on how to clean up the goo thats left behind.....

 

[lockdude]

I have a plant that looks like the vine in your pictures,and mine is some sort of ivy with some white in some of the leaves.The berrys change colors from lite purple to blue to purple,and have little white spots of them.Someone gave me the plants,and I dont know what they are for sure.The birds like them,but I have been afraid to try them without knowing what they are for sure.Im in so.indiana.
lockdude

 

[swillologist]

It's picture time lockdude. If you can post a picture of it. I'm sure someone here will know what you have.

 

[el wino]

I agree ,with a few pics of the berries &plant structure.Some one will i.d it for ya...