Elderberry plant, beautiful, bountiful and full of benefits.

While the whole plant offers a variety of uses the berries are the part most frequently used. There are so many ways to enjoy elderberries. The most common is in a delicious syrup. I started using this recipe many years ago, with the addition of 1/4 of rosehips for extra vitamin C. It is safe as a daily supplement, or in acute situations multiple times per day.

It can be made in an Instant Pot or on the stove top. Once you strain your liquid you can brew the plant matter a second time with up to a quart of water. The resulting tea is not quite as medicinal as the first brew but it's every bit as tasty.

A fun way to use the syrup or the tea is to turn them into gummy candies. The syrup will have a stronger, sweeter flavor but in either case you start with one cup of liquid and 2 tablespoons of gelatin. Heat them gently to about 145* and put into your favorite molds. Let them cool at room temperature for the perfect gummy candy texture. They will keep at room temperature about 7-10 days, or several weeks in the refrigerator (supposedly, ours have never made it that long before we eat them all).

You can also use this same ratio with other sweet liquids to make gummy candy. We've done apple juice and hibiscus tea. The possibilities are nearly endless. Another reminder of, "let thy food by thy medicine." The word of God tells us, "And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine." It is interesting that you can find an abundance of elderberry plants growing happily along riverbanks in the summers of South Carolina, with the beautiful berries ripening in early fall.