Picking Elderberries this morning

[montanaWineGuy]

Not as good as last year, but good enough.

I had to do some bushwhacking to get to the good stuff. Once in position it took about 15 minutes to fill a 3.5 gallon bucket.

Course it took me 2+ hours at home to remove the berries from the stems and pick out the bugs.

 

[montanaWineGuy]

One more picture. The best.

 

[GreginND]

Oh, they look beautiful. I need to get some plants established by my creek.

 

[montanaWineGuy]

A remote location, making it fun and an adventure.

 

[Julie]

Dam, those look good!

 

[WVMountaineerJack]

So you are one of those "it tastes better the longer you have to walk to pick it"? What nice berries you guys found, looks like they got enough rain this season to. WVMJ

 

[Runningwolf]

Looks awesome!

 

[montanaWineGuy]

So you are one of those "it tastes better the longer you have to walk to pick it"? What nice berries you guys found, looks like they got enough rain this season to. WVMJ

Long legs and good health. I am limited by my rapidly aging dog in how far I can go. As of now, far enough.

 

[goldnut]

Ours are not nearly ready to pick. Care to share the recipe that you will be using?

 

[montanaWineGuy]

Ours are not nearly ready to pick. Care to share the recipe that you will be using?

I just follow the direction in "The Joy of Home Wine Making" by Terry A. Garey

 

[cmason1957]

My wife and I have done three pickings of the two beside or house. We have about 40 lbs so far, probably get another 10—15 lbs. We planned 4 new plants this year, by next year, we may be in the selling business, we hope.

 

[montanaWineGuy]

My wife and I have done three pickings of the two beside or house. We have about 40 lbs so far, probably get another 10—15 lbs. We planned 4 new plants this year, by next year, we may be in the selling business, we hope.

My other location involves no hiking. This morning I just felt like I needed a good walk. The pictures really came out good. While there the landscape was ho-hum to me. Perhaps I was to focused on the berries.

The berries are, for the most part, very tart. I expect to do a lot of back sweetening when that time comes.

Last year the many many Elderberry plants were all producing superior berries. This year only a few, unlike last year. Still for making wine, this will give me an excellent 30+ bottles of wine.

Maybe it's just me, but home winemaking is about Elderberries. I listened to Elton John's "Don't Shoot me, I'm only the Piano Player" Album about a zillion times when I was a kid, especially "Elderberry Wine". A bucket list item fulfilled!

 

[Arne]

Ours are no where near turning. Some still have flowers. We will see how it goes. Last year they were just about ready for picking, we left for the weekend and a big storm came thru. End of the elderberries for last year. Story of my life. LOL, Arne.

 

[ffemt128]

Our berries are starting to turn but no where near ready yet. Still have 110 lbs in the freezer from last year that need processed. Based on last year's timing I should be picking in a few weeks.