Market Farming

["C. DeBerry" <deberryfarm AT yahoo.com>]

We've made elderberry jelly for years.  Never jam,
though.  The seeds are so large for the amount of
berry that is there, is easier to render out the juice
in a berry strainer than try to separate seeds from
skins and juice.  

You only have to remove the large stems, you don't
have to take them off the little stems  (called
"shattering") for jelly -- this will save you loads of
time.  Just throw the washed berries on the  little
stems in a pot with a little water, crush them and
heat through, stir often, then pour into a berry
strainer to drain.

Elderberry jelly tends to be rather sweet, so we
always substitute about 1/2 cup of red currant juice
in place of part of the elderberry juice in the
recipe.  I believe the recipe calls for 3 cups
elderberry juice and 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1 pack Sure
Jel and 4 1/2 cups sugar.

I hope this helps!  Good luck!
C. DeBerry
www.DeBerryFarm.com

----------------
I haven't gotten around to making an elderberry jam
yet.  But this year, I have hundreds of pounds to
harvest (started harvesting this week).  Boy, do they
take a long time to pick from the stems!!!  I spend
about three hours picking four pounds of berries.

Does anyone out there have a jam recipe to share?