Elderberry Harvesting for Cold Relief & Skin Care

My frosty elderberries.

Today I took my daughters to an amazing organic elderberry farm, located in Fenton, a quaint little town just north of us here in Southeast Michigan (and home to one of my fave restaurants, The French Laundry). There are no other elderberry farms that I know of around these parts, so I was excited to find out about this one my herby friend, Gina.

The farm is owned by, Loren, a very kind man who I really enjoyed talking with during our time there. We had a magical experience harvesting the beautiful and abundant dark purple-black berries aside a sparkling pond, on what ended up to be one of the most gorgeous days we've had this August.

We left the farm with four baskets brimming with berries, which I placed in the freezer right away for later use, since I wanted them to stay as fresh as possible. I plan to use them to make cold relief remedies, such as elderberry syrup and tincture, but I'm also planning to experiment with making elderberry salve (for cuts and abrasions) and a tinted lip balm (the elderberry juice is such a beautiful berry tint!).

If you live in the local area and would like to visit the farm, you can find out the details HERE on Local Harvest or by calling Loren at 810-922-8949. For more information about using the magical and giving elderberry, check out Elderberries.com.

Have you used elderberry before? If so, how do you like to use it?