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| A flock of wild turkeys crossed the front yard |
Elderberry Fest 2020 has drawn to a close, but the evidence lingers on. Hallie and Nick arrived late Wednesday night (Oct. 14), and as instructed, Mike and I didn’t wait up. We were all up bright and early on Thursday morning. Mike made waffles and I fried bacon.
Looking at the forecast, we decided we should pick elderberries Thursday
afternoon, just to be sure to avoid the rain. Mike opted for a bike ride
instead, but Hallie, Nick, and I headed to the bushes behind the house. They
didn’t look so good, but Hallie and Nick picked anyway, and we got plenty of
berries. I had seen a better bush in the north field, so we went to it, but what
a difference a week made! The berries were nearly gone.
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| Lovely elderberries -- last week |
Then I decided to show them – I just wanted to show them – this line of bushes leading from the field into the draw. I really thought they were inaccessible, but while my back was turned, Hallie went over the bank and was picking those very nice berries. Not to be outdone, Nick went over, too. (Gramma Kathy is cautious about steep hillsides these days.)
We had oodles of berries! We stemmed and processed about seven quarts of elderberry juice. I’ve never known how much water I should add to the berries, but after discussion with Nick and Hallie, I used just ½ cup per 4-6 cups of berries and it worked well. (This is not a precise science.) We had too many berries to let them drip overnight as our grandmothers surely would have done.
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| Hallie, Mike, & Nick picking Winterstein apples |
We didn’t have time to make jelly, and that’s a story for another post. But after Nick and Hallie left Sunday morning, I got busy and made two batches – 11 jelly jars. I’m not sure the first batch gelled, but you know, with 3 ½ quarts of juice still in the freezer, who cares? I’m not going lose sleep over it.
This morning Mike and I packed up and returned to town. He rode his Yamaha XT-250 back to the Valley while Bess and I traveled behind in the Jeep.
It’s a beautiful day in the valley – 70 and breezy, but mackerel! – have
you seen the weather forecast?!!! We’re heading for a cold snap by week’s end. KW
4 comments:
In the last photo, it says Hallie and the boys were picking apples, but it appeared that Hallie was the only one picking. The girls always do the work.
Chuck -- I had to laugh at your comment because Mike took the pole from Hallie. I insisted he give it back. The pole is new this year, and we were all interested in giving it a try.
I appreciate that you are still reading. I know you're busy.
So glad you got to have the elderberry fest! And a banner year, to boot! Always good to have the young and agile with us! (Were we ever? I don't think I was. . .)
I do not consider that I ever had a lot of physical skill, and these days I figure it pays to be cautious. On the other hand, it also pays to keep doing things. Don't give up.
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