Market Farming

[OakCamp2 AT aol.com]

They can also be sold for medicinal purposes.  They can be soaked in (blackberry-yum!)brandy and used as a flu tonic as elderberries are antiviral and anti-inflammatory.  Great as a jelly, too.

Flowers of elder can also be harvested for the same reason.

The entire peduncle of both should be harvested, the flowers in early summer and the ripe and juicy fruits in the fall or late summer. 

Flowers sell for $9 to $15/ lb  

Fruit sells for $9 to $10/ lb

Sambucus nigra or S. canadensis are the preferred varieties

S. pubens (with red berries) should not be grown for medicine as it is poisonous.

 

It is against the law to peddle any food items as a medicine, but you can use 2ndary literature to display at your farm stand and let the customers spend time reading about the preparation and use of the elderberries.

All you need to do is google elderberry as medicine and you can produce 100s of articles to print and display at your stand.  Let the customer make up their mind about the actual use and eating of the berries.

HTH

Barb Birkinbine

Oak Camp Herb Farm, LLC

Lodi WI