Elderberry - Sambucus

Ahhhh, behold, the elderberry. Packed full with anti-viral, anti- inflammatory and antioxidant properties, it's no wonder this plant is such a wonderful immunity booster.

As a child, growing up in Pennsylvania, I remember seeing these bushes growing in the wild, they would be covered with the most beautiful shade of deep purple berries. I didn't know what they were at that time or how in the years to come how much that beautiful berry would become a medicinal mainstay in my household. It seems that nature was actually instilling the love and curiosity of her medicinal bounty as I was growing up. That is just so amazing to me. And chances are, if you're here reading this now, nature has instilled that love and curiosity in you too. 💓 

In my experience with elderberry, nothing matches it's abilities when it comes to boosting the immunity and or aiding the body in healing from colds, flu and bronchitis. When taken on a schedule during an illness, (10 drops of elderberry tincture in 1/8 cup of water 3 times a day for 10 days works wonders for me.) it not only shortens the duration of symptoms but also lessens the severity of symptoms too. 

* A study published in the Journal of International Medical Research shows that when the extract is used within the first 48 hours of the onset of flu symptoms, it can shorten the duration of flu symptoms by an average of four days.

If it's that time of year for the cold and flu and you're starting to feel run down or have been around someone that is sick, one can start taking elderberry on a daily schedule to boost your immunity. That doesn't mean you won't get sick, but if you do, like I mentioned above, it will shorten the duration of symptoms and lesson the severity of symptoms too. Just remember, everyone's body is different. The dosage that works for you may not be the same dosage that works for someone else. This doesn't necessarily have to do with age or weight, it's just that everyone's body chemistry handles medicine differently, whether it's herbal or pharmaceutical.  

What I have learned over the years is that the smaller the dose the better. If that smaller dose does not seem to be helping then you can always increase it the next dosage time. If you do your research, you will find that you can take up to 30 drops in one dose. So, starting with say 7, that gives you some room to find what works the best for you.

Parts used - berries and flowers

Both berries and flowers offer antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
  
Antiviral - inhibits the development of a virus. Gives your immune system a boost which helps your body to fight off and shorten the duration of a virus and also reduces the severity of symptoms.

Anti-inflammatory - helps with a sore inflamed throat and sinus inflammation that comes with a head cold. Reduces the inflammation in the bronchial tubes, which leads to less coughing.

Antioxidants - work by protecting and repairing the cells from cellular damage - strengthening the immune system. 

* A 2016 study published in Nutrients showed that elderberry supplementation was able to reduce cold duration and symptoms in air travelers. Travelers using this herb from 10 days before travel until four to five days after arrival overseas experienced, on average, a two-day shorter duration of their colds as well as a noticeable reduction in cold symptoms.


The flowers, being a nervine, help to relax the nerves and anxiety by supporting the nervous system through stressful periods.  

Those beautiful white flowers are also great for skin care. They carry within their flowers diaphoretic properties. Although these particular properties in elderflowers are most commonly used for  fevers by aiding the body in sweating the toxins out, the flowers can also be used as a warm facial wash. In doing so this is said to aide in opening the pores thus allowing the skin to "purge" toxins. I make a small warm tea and apply with a cotton ball all over my face. I love it! It smells amazing.

I make an infused oil with the fresh flowers and carrier oil such as raw coconut oil or grapeseed oil. That is then used to make body butters and herbal salves. The salves are used for sunburns and skin rashes, the body butter is used in place of skin lotion. 
  
You can also make a flower essence from the fresh blossoms. Many have found that elderflower calls to them in the way of aiding in the opening of their crown chakra.  
Located at the top of the head, the crown chakra gives us access to higher states of consciousness. However, that is not to say with elderflower essence that is the only path in which she assists. 

Over the years I have come to learn that one particular flower may heal and or assist another person in a completely different way, and given the opportunity, the flower can and will seek one out for a particular healing. That is why in my teachings on flower essences I promote learning how to tap into your intuition, so you are able to hear for yourself the call from a particular flower in regards to a healing. 💓    

To learn more about flower essences, click here 
To learn about making elderflower infused oil, click here
To learn about making tinctures and other herbal preparations with elderberry and elderflower, click here.

    

Elderberry Glycerite - Tea

At the time I wrote this post I had a doozy of a head cold and a sore throat from all that sinus drainage. This tea.. the sweetness from the berries, flowers and vegetable glycerin, really make this a delicious and soothing tea for colds and sore throats.💓
   

I made this particular glycerite with fresh elderberries, fresh blackberries and fresh elder flowers. If you don't have access to fresh berries and flowers, you can use dried or frozen berries or dried elder flowers. 

Okay, let's talk about the herbs I used for this delicious glycerite. I chose the elderberries, blackberries and elder flowers for their antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. 

Antiviral properties inhibit the development of a virus. Gives your immune system a boost which helps your body to fight off and shorten the duration of a virus and also reduces the severity of symptoms.  

Anti-inflammatory properties help with a sore inflamed throat and the sinus inflammation that comes with a head cold. Also reduces inflammation in the bronchial tubes, which leads to less coughing. 

Antioxidants work by protecting and repairing the cells from cellular damage - Damage caused from a poor diet, chemicals in our food, water, bath and beauty products. Air pollution, pesticides, smoking, mental stress, emotional stress, lack of sleep. All these factors contribute to the weakening of our inner cellular structure - resulting in illness and at times, disease. 

Elder flowers

Because this herbal preparation is concentrated, I only added 10 drops to a cup of hot water and sipped three times a day.    

 If you don't have your herbal glycerite prepared, you can still get the same medicinal benefits by making a tea with fresh or frozen berries and fresh or dried elder flowers.   😊

How to Grow Your Own Elderberry Trees

One of the nicest things about running a blog, is all the new people you meet! They sometimes ask questions, and when I try to answer them, I learn new things also! So this post is dedicated to my friend Arya, who asked if I knew how to grow Elder from seed. She only sees the bush in areas that might be contaminated. I had the same problem a few years ago. They are all over my county, but many times they are a long creeks that are too near crop fields or roads. I am real fortunate that my friend Valorie bought a new home that had a huge old Elder stand growing already, in her garden area. I have been able to harvest there the last few years, but two years ago I did start some saplings from Possum Creek Herb Farm, and was amazed that the year after planting them, they flowered and later had berries! They are just two years old now, so not harvesting from them yet, but soon I will just be able to go into my own gardens for elderflowers and elderberries!
 
A few other sources I found are for buying Elder plants:
at Dave’s Garden site I found a seller in Florida
Elderberry Life - Missouri
Horizon Herbs - Oregon
Nature Hill – Nebraska
Raintree Nursery - Washington
Willis Orchard - Georgia
Thanks to my friend Anke of Herbology, I can now include a couple of Australian sources!
The Diggers Club
All Rare Herbs
Well, I have never grown an Elder from seed so I went off on a search and found some information.
At gardenguides.com I found this article for those of you who want to give it a try! I think I will try it also:)
Elderberry.com has planting and growing tips. Take time to look around the site for lots of information, discussions, and individuals who have Elder plants for sale also.
Now I am very sorry these sources for plants are for the US and Australia only.  I would love it if readers from other countries would give me the links to their favorite sources, and then I will revise this post to include them!

                                             Cecily Mary Barker picture
 Herbal and Honey hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx

Guide to Finding Elder Trees in Winter

Elder tends to be between 5 and 10 foot tall,( but I have read some types grow taller), with branches that branch outwards from the base. They sucker, so it is common to find multi-stemmed sprawling thickets.

You can see in the above photo how many branches rather grow swooping out from the base. Some do grow more upright and don’t show the graceful swoop until they are loaded with leaves, flowers/berries.

A telling feature for identification is the warty like growths on the bark. Just little rough raised areas, (scabrous),as you can see in the above picture.The bark itself looks rather grayish with a very light red cast to it. 

When cut, you can see the stem is filled with a light, porous pith.

 

 

I hope this helps any of you who are having trouble identifying elderberry trees in the winter!

Big herbal and honey hugs to all who visit Comfrey Cottages xx