Monday afternoon I picked Elderberries for the first time. Elderberries are abundant in this area. I picked about two gallons of berries with the stems attached. 
I rinsed the berries and removed them from the stems. I put them in a stainless steel pot and covered them with water and boiled them for about 15 minutes and then turned the heat down and let them simmer for a little while. Then I poured the berries and juice through a cheesecloth lined strainer. 
At this point, I probably rushed it a little bit because it was getting late ( I had taken a break to go help mow the yard). So I did gently squeeze the berries to try to get more juice out rather than just giving it plenty of time to drip. I divided the juice and put part of it back into the pan to add raw honey to it. However since we will have one child who isn’t 2 yet I saved some juice and made elderberry syrup with sugar so that he can have some if he needs it. It sure takes a lot of sugar/honey to make the syrup sweet. Those little berries are pretty tart. 
I ended up with 9 cups of Elderberry syrup. I just put it in the freezer so I could maintain the properties of the raw honey. I think I will try to make some elderberry jelly also. I have found a couple of recipes that I would like to try.
Blessings, Jennifer
Wow! I like that. I don’t know where to get any elderberries but will be on the lookout since they are good for colds and such.
I have been able to find them growing wild along ditches and waterways.