Having made lots of elderflower cordial from the bumper crop of elderflowers in the hedgerows near my home in June, I can now see that we are also in for a bumper crop of elderberries.
How can tell when they are ready to pick? When I was small, my family made jam with them. Any other ideas?
From Greenfootsteps' "Elderberry Recipes for a Healthy Winter Edinburgh":
Pick elderberries when they are fully ripe in early autumn. The bunches should be starting to droop downwards with the weight of the fruit. Use a fork or your fingers to gently prise the fruit away from the stalks. This can be a bit fiddly but you don't have to be too perfect with it - a few bits of stalk will not matter.
