[OldFashionedMama]

My aunt called him and told him the woods behind her new apartment are filled with them, so he went out today to gather the berries for me. I hope I have enough to make some jam and some left over to make a tincture. I do not have a food mill so straining the seeds will be complicated. I think I'll use cheesecloth or a mesh tea strainer. In other foraging news, boneset and Joe Pye weed are in full bloom here in NE Ohio, and on an aesthetic note our fields are adorned with the deep purple of the New York Ironweed (which to my astonishment is a threatened species. It's everywhere around here!) Boneset is a wonderful medicinal herb, noted for reducing fever and boosting immunity, especially to influenza. Joe-Pye weed is also a fever reducing plant, its namesake originating from a Native American named Joe Pye who legend claims cured typhoid fever with the plant.

I hope my venture in all things elderberry turns out well...

 

[UncleJoe]

I used a tea strainer when I made blackberry jam. I couldn't get the pulp pushed through the cheesecloth very well so I gave up and just used the strainer. It doesn't get all the seeds out but it does a fair job. Just think of the seeds as a little extra fiber.

 

[The_Blob]

I have just GOTTA say it... (weeth a heavy fronch accent)

"your mother was a hamster & your father smelled of elderberries"

I've been gathering about 10 quarts (2 5-quart ice cream buckets) of blackberries every day for the past week now

have you tried using a pillowcase? that's how I learned to take out the seeds when I made jam, now I use an electric juicer

 

[Jason]

I fart in your general direction!!!!

 

[The_Blob]

I fart in your general direction!!!!

"filthy English ka-niggits!"

 

[UncleJoe]

"filthy English ka-niggits!"

"Is there someone else up there we could talk to!?

Only seems fair that someone take the English side.

 

[OldFashionedMama]

Update...

He brought the 5gal bucket, only half full. My aunt apparently didn't know what she was looking at, and he got over there only to find a row of wild cherry trees. Even with the half full bucket, it took 2.5 hours to de-stem all the berries, and I don't have enough to make the jam, or jelly for that matter. I'm not terribly interested in repeating this process again, so I think I'll use what I have to make some liquor or syrup. I'm more interested in elderberries for their medicinal rather than culinary virtues.

 

[Jason]

Sorry we Pythonized your thread, Mama.

 

[UncleJoe]

Yea but it was fun.

 

[The_Blob]

Update...

He brought the 5gal bucket, only half full. My aunt apparently didn't know what she was looking at, and he got over there only to find a row of wild cherry trees. Even with the half full bucket, it took 2.5 hours to de-stem all the berries, and I don't have enough to make the jam, or jelly for that matter. I'm not terribly interested in repeating this process again, so I think I'll use what I have to make some liquor or syrup. I'm more interested in elderberries for their medicinal rather than culinary virtues.

aawww, sorry to hear about that, OFM...

there are so many berries here that I might go out again

 

[OldFashionedMama]

Sorry we Pythonized your thread, Mama.

That's okay, it's not too bad. "It's only a flesh wound!"