Elderberries: The Beginner's Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks and More

by Alicia Bayer

Elderberries grow wild all over the United States, Canada, Europe and beyond, yet most people don't even realize they're there.  Now you can learn how to easily find wild elderberries, forage them and grow your own to make medicinal remedies like anti-flu syrup and elderberry oxymel, delicious baked goods like elderberry meringue pie and elderberry thumbprint cookies, elderflower recipes like elderflower fritters and elderflower soda, alcoholic recipes like elderberry wine and elderberry hard lemonade, and lots more.

Elderberries and elderflowers are among the most perfect wild foods. They are useful in all sorts of recipes, packed with health benefits that do everything from boost the immune system to cure the flu, and you can even find them for free all over the world -- or grow your own.

This comprehensive guide will teach incredible history of elderberries and elder flowersHealth studies and traditional medicinal usesThe effects of heating and freezing on the medicinal properties of elderberriesThe most efficient way to get every bit of the anti-flu benefits from elderberries ( it's not elderberry syrup!)How to easily find elderberries, with full-color ID photos and maps of elderberry ranges in the United States and Canada (though you'll also find them elsewhere all throughout the world)How to grow your own elder shrubs from cuttings or wild transplantsHow to preserve elderberries by freezing, drying, canning and moreHow to ID elders and how to tell them from so-called poisonous look-alikesElderflower recipes for teas, pancakes, syrups and moreElderberry recipes for jams, tinctures, oxymels, popsicles, pies, muffins and moreInstructions for homemade spirits like elderflower wine, elderberry mead, elderflower-blueberry smashes and elderflower liqueur ice cream floats -- just to name a few!And much moreWith over 60 recipes for health remedies, baked goods, spirits, jellies and more!The amazing health benefits of elderberries are well known.  There's no more need to spend up to $20 a pound on dried elderberries when you can find them all around you once you know where (and when) to look.  There's also no more need to limit yourself to elderberry syrup when there are so many better ways to get the health benefits of elderberries. 

And once you know how to find or grow your own elderberries, there's no need to stop at medicinal recipes when you'll have enough to also make all kinds of delicious jellies, liqueurs, baked goods, drinks and other delicious treats.

Whether you're a novice forager wanting to find local (free!) sources of elderberries for anti-flu syrup, a homeowner interested in growing elderberries and finding delicious ways to preserve them, or a veteran forager looking for fun new ways to make use of elderberry and elderflower bounties, this comprehensive book has something for you.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Horticulture, Gardening, Health

191 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 4, 2017

About the author

Alicia Bayer lives in Minnesota with her husband and five children. Her writing has been widely published in books, magazines, literary journals, newsletters and online at sites such as Huffington Post, Peggy O'Mara and Pathways to Family Wellness.

She maintained national columns on the topics of homeschooling, parenting and sustainable living for six years and has maintained the nonprofit website, A Magical Childhood, for over 20 years, in addition to a number of blogs and websites on topics of sustainable living, homeschooling and other passions.

She has published the free nonprofit nature magazine Wild Kids Magazine online for six years.

She is the author of nine books:

NEW— Flower Girls (Feminist Floral Poems and artwork)

A is for Acorns (a foraging alphabet book, illustrated by Toria Bayer)

Poems from Under a Toadstool (children's nature-based poetry, illustrated by Rhiannon Bayer)

A Magical Homeschool: Nature Studies (52 Wonderful Ways to Use Nature Studies in Every Season to Teach Science, Math, Art and More)

Elderberries: The Beginner's Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks and More

Acorn Foraging: Everything You Need to Know to Harvest One of Autumn’s Best Wild Edible Foods, with Recipes, Photographs and Step-By-Step Instructions

Getting Started Homeschooling: Everything You Need to Know About Legal Requirements, Curricula, Testing, Types of Homeschooling, Learning Styles, Socialization and Making It Fun for Everyone

Crazy Broken Thing (Poems from the Attic, Book One)

Slut Shamed (Inappropriate Feminist Poems, Poems from the Attic, book two)

More books on these topics and others are coming soon.

Reviews

[Shez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recipes are inspired with the drinks being particularly inspired. I have to admit that I don't forage, I just buy the elderberry supplies that I need. The elderberry syrup recipe came in particularly handy two weeks ago when we were snowed in and my family came down with the crud. I boiled up a huge batch of the stuff and force fed it to my brood. I'd have preferred a tincture, but time was of the essence. Everyone was well in less than a week, and I'm giving the credit to the elderberry syrup I made.

[Manon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chock full of great information! Can’t wait to try some of the recipes.

[Valerie Wells · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally

I finally found the perfect book, all about elderberries & recipes. I don't think I will find as much information in another book.

[Erin Dowsley Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book a couple of years now and it has been such a fantastic reference for me. I know first hand the power of elderberries has on my own immune system and to have this book to explore even more options has been amazing. I know exactly where it sits on my book shelf because I pull it out several times a year!

[Victoria Cieslewski · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have gotten into foraging as the economy has been all over the place and this author has helped me gain knowledge and a sense of purpose.

[Shula · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a useful book. I used it to make elderberry syrup to help protect my family from cops and flu. I’m looking forward to trying to make elderflower wine

[karen lakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

So Many Recipes!

From tincture and tonics, jellies and jams and finishing with cordials and mead!
Alicia has written a lovely informative book that contains a plethora of ideas and ways to utilize the ubiquitous elderberry!