New to Elderberries

[Wade E]

How do you know when hey are ready to be picked. They are all black as of now but seem small. Does anyone have a pic of a berry thats ready with some sort of scale to go by like with a tape measure or in their hand? Should they be the size of a small blueberry or big Blueberry? I dont want to miss out on these this year as Ive found a few plants which are wild and may even try to transplant these when they go doramnt.

 

[Dean]

when they are soft and not green is the time to pick them! You might wait a day or two in the sun for further ripening, however, you'll have to contend with birds and other people that may be eyeing the same bushes.

 

[Wade E]

Cool, ill have to check them out again tomorrow then.

 

[Cracked Cork]

http://www.oatmealjack.com/Elderberries/ElderberriesFlowers.html

Follow this link to the bottom for some ripe elderberries. You cant go by size because there are a lot of different sizes. They need to be black and soft, squeeze some of the fruit, if the juice isnt deep red its not ready. Good Luck. Crackedcork

 

[grapeman]

If they are wild ones, which they probably are unless they are in a neighbor's lawn, they will likely be the size of a small wild blueberry. There are hundreds of them on a single stem, so they pick quickly, but clean off much slower. The ones around here will stain everything they touch blue, even though the juice is a dark almost black color. Go get them Wade!

 

[Waldo]

I wanna see a picture of them fingers when ya get through buddy

 

[Wade E]

Cool, they are almost ready then.

 

[Winefarmer1]

Wade,
Pick them when you see the whole pod drooping. Some pods will have some green berries along with the dark ones, but I picked them anyway. I read an idea about getting them off the stems after you pick them, but never was able to try it since my berries had already been destemed. The suggestion was to use a fork to rake berries from the stem. If it works it could be a real timesaver because doing it by hand is time consuming. I weighed a gallon bag of frozen berries today. They came in at about 5.5 pounds if you are wondering.

 

[Wade E]

Awesome ifo, Ive also read that putting them in water will reveal the unripe ones today sp Ill give that a try tomorrow just to see as they seemed ripe but very small, the size of BB's. I also read that fork idea and will do that, Ill bring a pair of snips with me and just nip the stems and put them in a bucket.

 

[Winefarmer1]

The berries I picked were mostly the size of BB's also, but for some reason some of the bushes had berries three times that size. It surely would be nice to fine bushes with berries allof the large size.









I am jealous of your efforts since I only found a minimal amount of berries and need more. Great luck with your efforts.

 

[Wade E]

Well I dont know how many I can dig up at these sizes but I have found even more but its going to hurt getting to them. Its going to be pants and a long sleeve shirt and bath in bug repellent!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cracked Cork]

Wade, you mean to plant? You might be better off going with the Johns, Adams, York varieties and it doesnt take long at all to get fruit and they are bigger than the ave wild type. Crackedcork ps links on my webpage for good sources

 

[Wade E]

No, I am not planting these in my yard knowing the berries are this small, I was thinking about it as they were growing though. Thanks everyone, Im probably going picking Saturday so if I dont start posting after that send in the rescue team for this one!