In southern New England, we may have a dusting of snow. The evergreen shrubs and trees really "pop" out from the grays of the deciduous tree trunks. The blueberry bushes may still have a tinge of red foliage on them, but otherwise the leaves are gone. Sadly, the tree which used to keep its kraft-brown fluttery leaves through the entire winter -- the beech tree -- is slowly retreating from the landscape. They are all withering due to a nematode disease.
Regular wildlife is sporadic now, but includes dark-eyed juncoes and nice red cardinals, along with an occasional bald eagle and hawk overhead. The deer continue their daily rounds of herbivorous feasting on the almost non-existent foliage, but at least the time frame for eating (the cover of night) is much extended as we approach winter solstice.
If we're lucky, we'll have a bright white snow fall followed by a breezy day with the bluest sky imaginable. Down along the eastern coast of Connecticut, the Long Island Sound will keep our temperatures a bit warmer at first, but then as winter moves into Spring, the opposite happens where our days are cooler than the interior of Connecticut. Once I took a beach walk after a long, very cold spell, and the clink-clink sound of ice gently moving with the waves was eery, like something out of the movie "Titanic" (and, btw, the explorer who found the shipwreck lives right here in Lyme!).
On the farm, the wreaths for the door are gradually browning and I take them apart. The smells of boiling apple cider and maple sap waft from the sugar shack!
Boiled apple cider was a treat the colonists made to preserve the apple harvest. We use it in our Elderberry Apple Shots. Apple season on the East Coast runs from October through January, quickly followed by maple syrup season, which runs February and early March. We always need a dose of good luck here, for the weather to cooperate and provide a 5 or 6 week run for maple sap.
]]>Want to try all three? Check out the Elderberry Fanatic Set!
- Elderberry Apple Shots is 1/2 pure elderberry juice, and 1/2 apple syrup. The apple syrup adds natural sweetness, and balances the tart elderberry. It is a great taste combination we stumbled upon years ago in an old cookbook (the recipe was for elderberry-apple pie). No added sugar. A good choice for kids. Keep refrigerated once opened and consume within 3 months. 8,000 mg elderberry per Tablespoon.
- Pure Elderberry Juice is all pressed elderberries (from fresh-frozen) with a tiny bit of citric acid to improve the very-short shelf life of juices. USDA Certified Organic too! We describe this as intense, a little in seltzer or water for the grown ups, or juice or sweet tea for the kiddos. Once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within about 1 month. Unopened, it will last about 2 years. 15,000 mg of elderberry per Tablespoon.
- Purple Granny, also known as Elderberry Fire Cider, is a honey-sweetened vinegar tonic. It has a complex set of tastes, such as tangy, sweet, savory, and warming. Also USDA Certified Organic. While Purple Granny has the least amount of elderberry per serving, it also contains beneficial ingredients like turmeric, ginger, onions, and more. Purple Granny doesn't need refrigerating but can be refrigerated for a very long shelf life once opened. (We aren't sure how many mg of elderberry per tablespoon, we can only estimate it around 1,000, we'll update this when we have a more specific number).
As always, our products come with a 30-day money back guarantee. We also provide FREE SHIPPING (ground) for orders $35+.]]>Everyone needs to wash, right? Do it in style, and luxuriously with our non-drying, "super fatted" elderflower soaps. Add a free soap-saver in case your giftee doesn't have one. Individually packed in simple, elegant white boxes. All natural, vegan, and handcrafted. $8.00 - $40.00
Our DIY Elderberry Gummy Kit is delightful and fool-proof. Parents love it because it's a fun way to teach skills -- stirring, melting, pouring -- and the gummies have 4 ingredients (no refined sugar, preservatives, or stabilizers). Kids love them because they get to participate, the shapes have funny faces on them, and the surprise of unmolding them never gets old. $24.99
Almost everything on our website is vegan (except the honey and the Gummy Kits), there is no refined sugar, preservatives, or additives in anything. I would suggest a gift pack (like the Summer Flavors, $49.99, or Organic Traditions Maple Syrup Set, $38.50 will have something for the whole healthy family.
A Farm Syrups and Honey Pack has so many purposes for the constantly cooking person -- sauces, dressings, dips, glazes, de-glazing, the list is long. A Mini Sampler Pack accomplishes the same, but in a mini size ($16). We also have the mini sampler sets in a bulk option to save you money ($96 for 8).
We ship to the lower 48 States, ground, for free. We will choose the least expensive service (either USPS or UPS). If you need shipment to a PO Box, or if you require a certain service, you can opt for the $15 surcharge. We do not offer expedited shipping at this time. IF YOU DO NOT WANT the standard packing slip included in the shipment PLEASE FILL OUT THE "NOTES" during checkout. The packing slip includes prices. Shipments are in sturdy cardboard boxes and bottles are encased in bubble bags for extra protection.
]]>It's late summer and the elderberry bushes are ready to harvest. Here's Dave (above) being careful not to harvest a too-young cluster. A lot of "too-young" berries will produce a redder juice (rather than purple-blue) and an even tangier flavor. Waiting for the darkest berries possible means a better juice.
The bushes have finished their flowering stage by now. The photo above shows the white clusters of flowers in June. each of these small white flowers produce one berry.
Elderberry bushes prefer consistent moisture and a well-drained soil. 2023 brought us lots of rain. This year we installed a bird-deterrent (sounds). At least we don't have the massive cranes who frequent the elderberry bushes in Eastern Europe on their way south to Africa for the fall and winter months. Our biggest elderberry fans in the bird world are catbirds and finches.
These clusters are ready to be de-stemmed. For home use or a small orchard, a simple fork does a great job of separating the berries from the stems! We have a machine called TED (The Elderberry Destemmer) made by Terry Durham of River Hills Harvest.
Pictured above is our bladder-press style juicer where the berries are pressed into juice. The berries' final destination is in your bottle of Elderberry Apple Shots, Elderberry Juice, or Purple Granny Fire Cider. And after these berries make their contributions, we clean the seeds and make Elderberry Seed Oil which goes into our fabulous, rich, elderflower soaps.
]]>We bought and planted blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, beach plums, and elderberries! How awesome was that berry patch going to be???
Within a year or so, most of the plants died. Turns out, the berry patch area was quite wet underneath the top layer of soil. But..... all the elderberries lived and they thrived there. So, I turned to the question of WHAT TO DO with all the elderberries.
I knew elderberries from my Aunt. She made elderberry jelly for Christmas gifts. But that was the extent of my knowledge. I found a lot of new research on the internet about growing elderberries, harvesting them, and the health properties of the berry. It seemed like there was momentum behind this little dark purple ball of antioxidants and polyphenols.
My first batch of elderberry jam was a flop. The jam didn't set, and the seeds inside the berries made for, shall we say, a textured mouth full. But the unset part of the jam we ate, and I quickly noticed the health properties. This was something I could get excited about selling.
It turns out we're not allowed to tell you about elderberry's health properties, but that's okay because smart people do the research themselves. Turning to the next question ("how to make this taste great??"), we paired the juice of the berries with all kinds of sweeteners and flavors. We tried maple syrup, honey, pears, and more.
At the same time I was scouring the libraries for elderberry recipes in old cookbooks. Finally, in my very own collection, I found "Elderberry Apple Pie." We paired our pressed elderberries with apple syrup and the rest is history. The taste combination could not be beat. And we didn't need to add a single preservative. The two ingredients are perfect.
The very first batch of Elderberry Apple Shots in 2016 was called Elderberry Apple Syrup, but we changed that up because the FDA requires that "syrup" be a certain thickness. Our product isn't thick enough to be called a syrup. Bill came up with the idea to call it "Shots."
If you haven't tried our Elderberry Apple Shots, I encourage you to read our several thousand testimonials (unfortunately we cannot publish testimonials which mention a specific health outcome), and we are so sure that you will love Elderberry Apple Shots that you can return the product to us within 30 days if you are not satisfied -- no questions asked.
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- Elderberry Apple Shots, 2 packs, 4 packs, cases of 12, and 1/2 gallon (67 fl oz) options. You can choose non GMO apples or organic apples in all of these packages.
- Elderberry Gummy Kits featuring our Shots, and 2 oz travel size Shots
And we've added more ways to get your daily elderberry -- Pure Organic Elderberry Juice, Purple Granny Elderberry Fire Cider, and coming soon, Organic Elderberry Spread. We've only raised prices once since 2017.
BUT -- we experienced a large market swing in 2020-2021 from barely being able to keep up with demand to, well, a slow trickle of Elderberry Apple Shots orders. Then we turned back to the richness of our farm, its soil, and the gift of Mother Earth providing for us. We expanded our growing spaces, planted new perennials, and signed up for lots of local Farmer's Markets. This is our core strength. It's how we started back in 2014.
There is no doubt that elderberry is a miracle berry and will always be. It reached an awareness peak in 2020, and now it's back to its 2018 steady-state. If you notice that our newsletters, emails, and social media posts have broadened out to include other farm products, you are correct.
Everything we make follows our guiding principles. Straight-forward recipes, farm ingredients, minimal processing, organic, and delicious. We know you will love everything you purchase from us, including the one you come back to, our well-loved "Elderberry Apple Shots."
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Click here to see our current list of local gourmet, independent, and regional food stores which carry Fat Stone Farm products.
Spring, Summer and Fall Markets and Events (check back for updates):
Saturday March 30, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., tasting at LaRocca's Country Market & Spirits, 105 Old Long Ridge Road, Stamford, CT.
Saturday April 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., Long Table Farm Market, 256 Beaver Brook Road, Lyme, CT.
Sunday April 21, noon to 4 p.m. Little House Brewing Pop Up Market (in front), 16 Main Street, Chester, CT.
Saturday May 18 (rain date May 19), Provider Farm Annual Seedling Sale, 30 Woodbridge Road, Salem, CT.
Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., May 25 through October 12, Lyme Farmer's Market at Tiffany Farm, 156 Sterling City Road, Lyme, CT.
Sunday December 7, noon to 4 p.m. Little House Brewing Pop Up Market, 16 Main Street, Chester, CT.
]]>Elderberry Juice is pressed elderberries. We also add <1% of citric acid for shelf stability.
Elderberry Apple Shots are pressed elderberries and apple syrup. The apples add sweetness and balance to the naturally tart and slightly bitter elderberries.
If you would grab unsweetened Cranberry Juice off the shelf, rather than the Cranberry Juice Cocktail, then our Elderberry Juice is for you!
If you prefer the low-sugar preserves and jams, rather than the fully sweetened ones, then Elderberry Juice is for you.
Or -- if you love mixing Elderberry with your cocktails and drinks, Elderberry Juice will give a more pure flavor and has more flexibility in mixing with other ingredients.
And lastly, if you really just want the dark-berry power of elderberries, then choose the juice because there's twice as much elderberry-power in the bottle.
On the other hand....
The apple syrup adds shelf-life and so the Elderberry Apple Shots can stay in the fridge after opening for a lot longer than the juice. Apples are naturally anti-microbial.
And apples add their own nutritional profile (like quercetin) to the Elderberry Apple Shots. They also add body and thickness to the juice and make it very easy to just take a swig or teaspoonful.
As always, we offer a 30-day money back guarantee, and welcome any questions through the "Contact Us" page. We look forward to shipping some great elderberry products to you!
]]>The larger maple syrup packing houses are working very hard to create a uniform maple syrup taste. On the one hand, this makes sense -- you know what you're getting at the supermarket when you stare at all the grades, brands, and bottle types of maple syrup.
On the other hand, this is a travesty. The smaller craft flavors are completely lost when so much maple syrup is combined in large vats.
Most of our maple syrup tastes like maple! but with hints of flavors in the top section of this wheel - from 10:00 to 2:00 - the yellows and oranges. It's a real mystery how this works, because we never add anything to the sap or syrup. For people familiar with the wine world, it's the "terroir" of the trees here in Lyme (and East Haddam, CT).
To purchase our Certified Organic maple syrups, visit the maple collection.
Click here to learn about what makes maple syrup Certified Organic.
Flavor wheel posted with permission,© Her Majesty the Queen of Right in Canada, represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada 2021 and © Centre Acer 2021]]>
The first thing we made here was organic maple syrup, and sold it at the local Farmer's Market. We didn't even have our own booth. This photo shows a fellow farmer Michael, selling our syrup, along with Liz and Jonathan and Colin:
Joke #1 -- When I looked up my family tree, I found out I was the sap.
Seven years later, we have created 7 products! Have you tried them all?
3. Raw Apple Cider Vinegar, with Ginger and Turmeric
Joke #2 -- Why do some berry bushes get senior citizen discounts at the local museums? Because they are elder-berry bushes.
All of our farm products are based on heritage recipes and knowledge, sometimes with an updated twist. The Gummy Kits are the most "trendy" of all of them, and even those are quite straight-forward -- only 4 ingredients. You might know that the native Americans made maple syrup, but more surprising is how old apple syrup is. We found the method for making apple syrup in a 1914 publication by the (now-known) USDA. We use it in our Elderberry Apple Shots and in our Apple Ginger Syrup.
Joke #3 -- If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what does an onion a day do? Keeps everyone away.
An keep your eyes peeled in the coming year for new products -- one which does include some onions. We are closer to our long-term goal of being a one-stop website where customers can find farm-made pantry items, healthy treats, syrups and honeys, and great service.
Joke #4 -- What do honey bees comb their hair with? Honeycomb.
The 2020 pandemic/lock downs really got our juices flowing, as the country (panic-?) bought supplements and Elderberry Apple Shots in large quantities, only to pull back in 2021. I reflect on our own family, and how we over-bought flour. We haven't bought flour now in over a year, and we still have quite a bit to finish up before we buy any more.
Joke #5 -- Don't worry, I won't make a joke about bread. It's the yeast I can do.
And before you run as fast as you can away from my terrible jokes, why not sign up for our newsletter so you can get all our sales and coupon notices? Just type in your email into the box here, and I promise no jokes in the newsletters:
Joke #6 -- (this is a copied image from the internet, so it may disappear in a few months. It's a police officer looking down on a small kiddie car with two toddlers in it. His car is behind, lights flashing. He says "Ma'am, how many juice boxes have you had tonight?")
We are launching Elderberry Juice soon -- our 8th Product!! This juice is as close as you can get to picking elderberries off the bush and eating them. Be warned -- this is not a sweet juice like grape juice or apple juice. Elderberries are naturally bitter. We love it best added to other, more sweet beverages, although Bill can drink it with plain water. If Elderberry Apple Shots is too sweet for your palate, then Elderberry Juice is a must-have for you. The juice is shelf-stable for two years, but we recommend consuming it within 30 days once you open a bottle.
Joke #7 -- How do you make "seven" an even number? Take the "s" out.
Thank you for reading this entire blog post -- we look forward to keeping you amused, supplied with great farm products, and healthy for the next 7 years!
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I would be in the store looking at soap. Usually, there would be a picture of a nice plant on the front of the soap bar or lotion bottle. Words like "natural", "pure", "gentle" would grab my attention, followed with some wonderful ingredient mention like shea butter, aloe vera, goat's milk, or cocoa butter.
But ALAS, upon reading the ingredients!!! I put down bar after bar of soap. Where were the soaps and lotions that actually were PURE? What, exactly, are these ingredients doing in a "natural" "shea butter" "gentle" soap or lotion?
And the list goes on....
But there wasn't much choice (or so I thought), and I continued using these soaps and lotions. I was at the point where I had to lather my entire body with store-bought body lotion after every shower with store-bought soap to avoid feeling "prickly" all over. After spending a day in a very highly heated room my lips would hurt like a mother and only 1/2 of a tube of store-bought lip balm would calm them down.
I heard a radio broadcast about hygiene practices and how they've changed over the century. In the early 1900s, the large soap manufacturers worked to increase per-capita consumption of shampoo by convincing women it was better to wash their hair twice a month. WAIT - twice a month? What was the general hair-washing routine PRIOR to this advertising? It was once per month.
And really, have our hair follicles and oil glands changed in 100 years? Not likely. Our modern hair-washing protocol is based on marketing and advertising, not human anatomy. So I tried spacing out my hair washing. When my hair was a bit longer, I could manage about 17 days between washings. My hair stylist said it was the best thing I could do to create healthy looking curls. And as a side benefit, I used 1/5 of the amount of shampoo. What else could I learn from previous generations regarding skin care and hygiene?
I tried the purest ingredients possible, thinking about what my ancestors may have done. I "washed" my face with olive oil. I used our farm-raised lard (from pigs) to moisturize my hands. I bought lots of sun hats and cut down on sunscreen. I made my own lip balm using our beeswax. I stopped using make up remover because the organic cooking oils removed eye makeup just fine.
LUCKILY for me, some other people were wondering all of this, too. Luckily - because lard is quite greasy and you can't do much for about 10 minutes while it soaks in, and even then you have to wipe it off with several paper towels. Because filling up tiny vials of lip balm is very tedious and they end up getting lost all over the place. And because you don't want to put just 'anything' around your eyes to get your mascara off (eye infections can happen, although it didn't happen to me).....
I found a 100% pure body lotion from a local soap maker. WOO HOO! So it doesn't last quite as long on the shelf as a highly-preserved bottle of lotion does, and the price is high comparatively, but the ingredients are so much better. After we converted over to her soaps, my skin stopped "prickling." I noticed that I was using much less body lotion, hardly any lip balm (even in winter), and my skin seemed to be on a healthy track.
If you read the backs of your food labels, I strongly urge you to start reading the backs of your skin care products labels. DO NOT use the graphics, colors, words, or images on the front of the labels to make informed choices, except that exceptionally fancy and highly packaged products are automatically suspicious because the contents may be low-quality. The cost is mostly in the packaging. And yes, our elderberry soaps contain sodium hydroxide, but that's lye. All soaps need lye or something with similar chemical properties to 'saponify' the oils/fats.
We say on our food labels to "eat food from the dirt, not the lab" and it's the same with our skin products. Join me on our healthy skin journey!
]]>THE QUESTION:
We always try to keep our prices down for folks. One of the ways we *thought* about it was to make a REAL, TRUE Elderberry SYRUP.
Why not? Lots of you know Elderberry Syrup! Everything I read about our competitors says that Elderberry Syrup tastes great!
Please note, I did not set out to make elderberry syrup from a D-I-Y kit using dried elderberries. I am not criticizing these kits at all here. I was attempting to use juice from our whole elderberries and some simple ingredients in order to scale it up in our commercial kitchen for sale.
THE REQUIREMENT:
I had 2 important goals in my recipe development:
1. It would be food safe. The syrup would need to have a low-enough pH to avoid the development of potentially dangerous microbes. Pulled out the pH meter for this experiment.
2. It would be thick! The FDA REQUIRES that a syrup is 60% solids. Like a syrup you pour on your pancakes. That is something called a "standard of identity". Rice has to be rice, olives have to be olives, and syrup has to be syrup. We have a small device to measure the thickness, so I could be very precise here.
If we could make a delicious elderberry syrup, we could reduce the amount of elderberries that we normally press for our Shots, and keep the price low for everyone. Our Elderberry Apple Shots is 55% pressed elderberries by volume. If we could get something lower, customers would still get their elderberry, but just not as much. If this worked, I'd tell you exactly what you were getting of course! And you'd probably still choose the Shots, but at least you'd have a choice.
THE EXPERIMENT:
Version #1: using cane sugar syrup. I had to use more than 4 times the amount of simple syrup/sugar water as the amount of elderberry juice, plus some lemon to reduce the pH. Then it reached both requirements #1 and #2. It was thick and food-safe. But it tasted horrible and the more I diluted it in water or sparkling water, the worse it got. I probably should have added cinnamon or cloves..... I'll stick with my aunt's famous elderberry jelly which is more or less the same ingredients but tastes so much better. Only trouble is that she doesn't make it anymore.
Version #2 using honey. I had to use about 3 times the amount of honey as the amount of elderberry juice, plus some lemon. This was required to reach goals #1 and #2; it was food-safe, and reached the FDA Standard of Identity for syrup, but it simply tasted like honey with elderberry flavor. Could be okay in tea, but you gotta be a honey lover to enjoy it. If I made something like this for you, I'd call it Elderberry Honey. It definitely needed some spices to balance out the (sickly) sweetness. It would likely have 1/4 the amount of elderberry goodness in each serving compared to Shots. So you'd need to consume 4 x as much to get the same elderberry, and that's not really saving $.
CONCLUSION:
While I was hoping for some terrific product that I would feel great selling to you at a lower price than our Shots, I didn't get it. I did get more dedicated than ever to our Elderberry Apple Shots. And did someone say "what about plain elderberry juice?" -- stay tuned.
]]>Oddly, as I write this at the turn of the year (2021 into 2022), things seem strangely calm. After 2 years of "pivoting", reacting, trying to plan, and wondering what was around the corner, there isn't much happening. Which is FANTASTIC! I'm just enjoying it while it lasts!
This past year we took much comfort in staying close to the farm. The elderberry bushes, maple trees, and other farm crops didn't change their behaviors at all. They grew, the pests and weeds came to bother them (and help them), they drank water, digested things from the soil, multiplied their cells, and so on. Not influenced at all by political arguments, human germs, or inflation.
In 2021, we launched our pure Elderberry Juice, we set up at our Farmer's Market 15 times, the local holiday market once, made new friends and customers, stayed in touch with old ones, and will likely do the same in 2022. We donated raffle prizes and auction items to local charities and non-profits. We composted much of our "waste" such as cardboard, filtering aids, all types of mulches, and the dried bits left behind from the elderberry seeds after pressing them into oil. We also made a great video about how we make organic maple syrup! It's on YouTube for you to watch.
We are so proud of the purity, quality, and ethics of our products. We stand behind everything we make and sell.
Sincerely, Liz
Yes, we called our Elderberry Apple Shots "Syrup" at first, but quickly learned that Syrup must be a certain thickness. We didn't meet that standard, so we changed the name to "Shots."
Back then, our local, Connecticut customers could often meet us, see us face-to-face, or at least know our town. That was enough to trust our Elderberry Apple Shots would be a winner for them.
We then started incorporating organic elderberries, then organic apples. But that still didn't let us use the USDA Organic seal on the product.
The USDA Organic seal now brings a trust factor to customers farther away, who don't know us or our town. Our ingredients are Certified Organic, our method is Certified Organic, and we can now, proudly, call our Elderberry Apple Shots Certified Organic.*
A few quick facts:
- USDA Organic means Non-GMO
- The organic inspector visits every year (Baystate Organic Certifiers)
- USDA Organic means the ingredients AND the process meet National Organic Program standards
It's important to know your farmer. But when you are too far away, it's still important to trust your farmer. And check out our Certified Organic Elderberry Apple Shots and our Certified Organic Maple Syrup!
*Launching in mid-March 2020
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You will need:
1 x roll of green floral wire
scissors
Directions:
Cut a 7-8" length of floral wire for tree decorating, more for wreath decorating. I use scissors to cut the wire, but I believe florists would never use scissors - they have a better cutting tool. I suppose you would eventually ruin your scissors this way, so find a pair that aren't terribly important.
With one piece of wire, create a loop around the neck of each bottle, doubling the wire back on itself, and twisting it tight, close to the bottle neck. Then twist the loose ends onto a tree branch.
If you are creating a wreath, or just putting some mini bottles into a pre-bought wreath, attach the loose ends of the wire around the wreath frame, in between the evergreen branches.
*NOTE* The vinegar will expand and crack in freezing weather, but the other three (elderberry apple shots, maple syrup, and apple ginger syrup) can withstand temperatures as low as 0F without expanding and cracking.
You will probably have to purchase a lot more floral wire than is needed for this project, but floral wire will come in handy around the house for other things.
And no, I do not want you to go to Amazon to purchase the floral wire so I am not directing you there, nor getting any fees for directing you there. Thanks!
]]>This is not an advertisement for our own Elderberry Apple Shots, but rather a helpful tip on how to choose an elderberry product.
Spend Your Money on Elderberry
If you want to spend your money on ELDERBERRY (rather than another ingredient), here's how to make the best choice. Of course you may have other requirements (for example, gluten-free or honey-free or child approved), but this is a great starting point.
Choose a product with elderberries as the first or second ingredient.
This is harder than it sounds. Take a look at the Supplement Facts label in the photo and there's a lot to get through! I looked at the part circled in red to notice that a serving size is a little over a teaspoon, 6.5 ml. In that teaspoon, there is 1.5 g of elderberry blend (shown in the green circle). For watery/liquid items, 1 ml is about 1 gram. So in this product, 23% of the bottle is 'elderberry blend'. Another 3% is what they call "organic immune blend". What this bottle probably has the most of is tapioca syrup, glycerin syrup, and water (listed as "Other Ingredients").
Avoid products which list water as an ingredient.
Why would you purchase water?
Choose something you will enjoy consuming.
If you like sweet things, an elderberry tincture, fire cider, or a pure unsweetened juice will take some getting used to. If you forget to take pills, then capsules will languish on your shelf. If you don't like the taste of elderberries, then maybe the capsules would work for you, or possibly gummies. If you are a whole-food believer, then anything highly processed will be a turn-off.
Generally, elderberry tea blends have the least amount of elderberry in them, along with gummies. A pure elderberry juice has the most minimally-processed elderberry in it. The concentrates have very high amounts of elderberry in them, but they have been highly processed in order to concentrate the elderberries. This can be done with solvents, heat, or reverse-osmosis machines.
If you are looking at our Elderberry Apple Shots, you may notice that our label looks different than many other brands. We sell our "Shots" (like a syrup, but slightly too thin to call it syrup) as a regular food item, not a supplement. I've written a short article about why we did that.
What About Homemade Elderberry Syrup?
Most homemade elderberry syrups call for dried berries, which reconstitute in hot/boiling water. Even some commercially available syrups use dried berries. I cannot find any information about how many milligrams of elderberry are present after the boiling phase. I have doubts that the dried berries have more nutrition after all that boiling, and so a homemade syrup may end up being more expensive on an elderberry-per-gram basis than a purchased one made from fresh/frozen berries.
Would love to hear your comments or suggestions! (due to bots/spam issues, the comments are moderated so you won't see your comment right away)
]]>Every customer who purchases on our website receives a request to submit a review. After they submit a review, they receive a 10% coupon code. It doesn't matter what they write about, or how many stars they give us, everyone gets the coupon.
In fact, there are several hundred MORE 5-star reviews that WE CANNOT PUBLISH! Unfortunately, when a customer mentions a health benefit (such as "after taking your elderberry apple shots, my allergies stopped"), the review cannot be published. The FDA considers anything on our website to be an "extension" of our product label. And a product label cannot promise a health benefit unless some serious science backs it up. The FDA considers these claims to be "health fraud." And that's another topic altogether!
So -- please believe the customer reviews -- they are all real.
]]>Our ancestors used the branches to make blow pipes and whistles because of the soft heart-wood, and in some cultures elder plants were called 'the tree of music'. We don't recommend that anymore because of the glycosides (cyanide) in the branches, roots, and leaves. One enterprising man (probably French) set up a pub in England, naming it Pontack and soon his elderberry 'ketchup' was known by that name, too. Elderflower is known to be good for the skin, and can be made into a homemade facial spritzer.
In Europe, one was advised never to rest under an elder bush during midsummer, or one would fall asleep never to wake up again! It was also said that the Elder Mother, who lived in the bushes, needed to give permission before cutting one down. But if you asked, she would protect you. And that fairies lived in the branches. I haven't seen the fairies, but the insects adore the pollen-laden flowers. The birds (usually cat birds) devour the berries, and the rabbits appreciate the bushy cover when being chased. We often find birds nests wedged in the branches after the leaves fall off in late autumn.
I love spotting Sambucus bushes in June, when their white-cluster flowers are blooming here in Connecticut. They prefer moist soil, I often see them near culverts and gulleys along the roads. (If you go elderberry-hunting, don't assume the bush is edible, though, several varieties are toxic. Ask a smart local gardener/plant guru first, or consult an authoritative guide or book.)
One slightly disturbing trend I am hearing about is foragers who strip wild-growing elderberry plants. In foraging, always remember to leave some, never take everything. Our native, wild plant species are in real trouble with native, long-growing stands of medicinal plants completely disappearing due to over-zealous foragers. The best thing is to learn to grow your own!
June and the rest of summer is a great time to make Elderberry Wigglers and Elderberry Gummies. Keep them in the fridge for a cool treat. Both of these recipes use our Elderberry Apple Shots, which is delicious on its own too!
Elderberry bushes are fairly easy to grow. In fact if they are in suitable surroundings, they will take over the area. They grow best from "cuttings", available in the late winter when elderberry farmers are pruning their bushes. We start ours in potting soil and give the little sticks lots of water, transplanting them into larger pots, and eventually the soil outside. Then we wait for the insects, birds, and small creatures (or fairies!) to take up residence.
]]>It also got me thinking about the benefits of making our own sweets on the farm. It seems to me that because my kids know a lollipop can be made with 2 ingredients (maple syrup and cane sugar), or a gummy bear can be made with 4 ingredients (more on this later), they should be more likely to question the 15-ingredient ones at the store. This is what I call food empowerment! (or me justifying my insane quest to make every food item myself). But first, a quick tour of the candy scene and ideas on how to survive it.
Enter.... Halloween! (or Easter or Christmas or fill-in-the-holiday!)
Sour patch kids, ring pops, jumbo candy bars, and my new top “worst” candy: sugar dip sticks dipped in more sugar (or is it dextrose?). This is every mother (and father)’s challenge this time of year. Is it okay that my kids eat this stuff?
A quick scan of popular candy ingredients isn’t for the faint of heart: sucrose and modified starches, gums and esters, fructose, glucose, corn syrups, acids, artificial colors, most of which were developed between the 1940s and 1960s. While none of these have probably been scientifically proven to harm the human body yet, excesses of these in the diet do raise some serious health questions. The production of some of these ingredients involve chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid, and bone char. It's just not my cup-of-tea.
7 Tips to Survive Franken-Candy
The rise of franken-candy doesn’t have to be so scary. Here are my techniques for reducing my two boys intake of sugar, artificial colors, and preservatives on Halloween -- and year-round:
Benefit by Making Candy in Your Kitchen
Making candy is not difficult, and only requires a few tools (a candy thermometer and some molds are a good place to start for hard candies). Start small and keep experimenting until it's right. You'll always get honest feedback from your kids! And over time, you can involve them in the process too.
Over the years I've become so obsessed with wanting my kids to eat clean that I perfected candy recipes to make for them. Last year I began selling a complete do-it-yourself gummy kit that offers the perfect combination of sweet/nutrition. I based it on the elderberries and maple syrup that are a staple of our farm.
I went the extra mile to develop a kit that i hope makes it easier for moms, dads and grandparents to survive the rise of Franken-candy. Consider using my recipe or buying the kit. Either way, the only remedy i see is to take control of the ingredients and join the journey to food empowerment.
Sincerely,
Farmer Liz
Our Elderberry Gummy Kit provides the ingredients, the directions, and the silicone tray to make gummy treats-- and the same tray can be used for chocolate and hard candies, too. We've included recipes for both in the kit!
This kit represents the end of my years-long quest for the perfect gummy: 4 ingredients, all pre-measured, designed to taste great, and no refined sugar. The gelatin is kosher, and adds protein and a great, smooth texture. Maple syrup for sweetening -- add more or less according to your sweet-tooth, and the elderberries add antioxidants, anthocyanins, and other dark-berry benefits. Good luck and happy holiday-ing!
]]>Creatively Converted Chicken Coop to Help Propel Elderberry Syrup Business
We have a second office location as a new addition to the company! The space, which is a fully renovated 2nd story chicken coop that overlooks the shipping center, solves our need for additional space to share our products with retailers and customers across the nation.
“This white-oak paneled chicken-coop turned office rivals some living rooms that I’ve seen,” said Bill Farrell, co-farmer of Fat Stone Farm. “The chickens left a few years ago, leaving this space a sparkling clean location for us to better execute our production.”
Founded in 2003, we grow certified organic elderberry, baby ginger and produce maple syrup, all available for purchase in various retail stores and online. In addition, we are dedicated to our roots with no intention to mirror the sprawling scale of our factory competitors.
“Because we don't want to lay all our eggs in one basket, and because we felt a little cooped up in our dining-room-turned-office,” said co-farmer, Liz Farrell, “this new space lets us grow without ruffling any feathers. Now we're just hoping our hens don't come home to roost."
#omg
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We can’t answer these, exactly. Here’s why:
Here are some guidelines to make decisions about our Elderberry products:
Here are some suggestions for making decisions about elderberry in general:
Thanks for being our customer, for trying our incredible Elderberry products, and don’t hesitate to ask us most anything else.
]]>We asked a medical doctor to review the scientific literature and tell us what science has to say about the (un)importance of breakfast. Farmers should eat a big breakfast, we know, but how about people of all walks of life and all ages?
Here’s what she had to say – and oh, yeah, we should be making more out of breakfast!
P.S. We did not ask her to investigate the importance of eating maple syrup at every breakfast because we all know that it’s important. 😊
If you need some new breakfast ideas, we've got some ! Energy Bites * Green Smoothie * Baked Oatmeal
By Michele Repo B.Sc. (Human Nutrition), MD
There are more than a few schools of thought when it comes to breakfast. We’ve all heard the adage, “Make sure you have a good breakfast.” and probably also know a few people who report that they’re “just not breakfast people.” So, is it different strokes for different folks or does science tell us that one approach is better than the other?
Let’s start with children, the group of people who are arguably the most likely to be lectured about the value of breakfast. What does science tell us about the value of breakfast to the young ones in our life? Firstly, science doesn’t always tell us the same thing. Research study A may directly contradict research study B. Still, there are significant trends in the scientific literature when it comes to children and the first meal of the day. For example:
It may seem obvious that children with their developing minds and bodies, would benefit from morning fuel. But what about adults, who aren’t experiencing the same growth spurts or brain development as their younger counterparts? Does breakfast have anything to offer them? Here’s a sampling of relevant research:
It’s safe to say that there is a fair chunk of evidence that eating breakfast is associated with good things for both children and adults. However, it’s important to point out that there is also a sizeable amount of published research demonstrating that breakfast either doesn’t provide any benefit or, worse, can result in detrimental effects such as weight gain 17, an outcome not terribly popular with most people.
Okay, so the scientific literature is a mixed bag when it comes to breakfast. Despite this, some people will embrace breakfast as part of their daily routine, whether they chose to do so based on habit, preference and/or their reading of the science. For those people, the natural next question is, “Will any breakfast do or does it have to be, ‘healthy’ or ‘complete’?”
Let’s start the answer with a look at what the experts in the field consider to be a “healthy” or “complete” breakfast. Not surprisingly, there isn’t yet a consensus when it comes to defining those terms. One approach to take is simply to assign breakfast it’s fair share of the daily macro and micro-nutrient requirements. In other words, if breakfast is one of five eating episodes during the day (for those who take the three meals and two snack route), then including approximately 20% of your daily energy and nutrient needs at breakfast seems intuitive. Equally intuitive would be a breakfast not steeped in saturated fat, sugar, and sodium. But, if you’re looking for something more specific, then the Breakfast Quality Index (BQI) proposed by researchers out of Brazil might be of interest 18. When assuming five meals/snacks per day, this indicator allows a breakfast to earn “quality” points based on meeting the following criteria:
As would be expected, these criteria are research based. For example, when it comes to the fiber criteria, a study of 70,000 women found that high fiber carbohydrates for breakfast offer more protection against developing type II diabetes than low fiber carbohydrates 19. An earlier study found the same association in men 20. When it comes to added sugar, the benefits of breakfast to mental performance may be better when the meal causes a “lower postprandial glycemic response.” 21 What does that mean? Put simply, foods that cause less of a spike in your blood sugar (i.e., generally those that contain less free sugar) may be better for your brain performance. And again, in keeping with the BQI, German researchers found that men eating breakfast which included processed foods, complete with higher saturated fat and salt content, had larger waists and worse blood sugar control than the men who ate breakfasts made up of cereal, fruit, and vegetables 22.
But remember, breakfast doesn’t have to be complicated. Even a bowl of ready-to-eat (RTE) breakfast cereal may be of benefit. If cereal is your breakfast-of-choice and you want to optimize potential health benefits, try opting for the high fiber, low sugar, whole grain variety rather than a bowl of brightly colored sugary treats 23. Still have a hankering for your favorite childhood cereal, refined grains and all? Well, take heart. A study of over 17,000 male physicians demonstrated that both whole grain and refined cereals are associated with lower BMI and less weight gain over 8-13 years 24. If you want more specifics when it comes to eating RTE cereals for breakfast, a 2016 meta-analysis of 64 studies found that eating this food at least five times a week offers some advantages including 25:
The disadvantage to grabbing a bowl of cereal as you rush through your morning routine? Not unexpectedly, the sugar content of many RTE cereals gets in the way of winning the prize for “best-breakfast-food-ever.”
Ahh, but before we finish discussing “healthy” and “complete” breakfasts, the fly in the ointment is once again the lack of agreement between different studies. In reviewing the research, Phillipou 26 reported that the evidence is inconclusive when it comes to whether a “healthier” or “more complete” breakfast is the best choice. So, what to do? One option is to wait until scientists reach something resembling a consensus. Another option is to acknowledge the lack of agreement in the research community while still (logically?) putting your money on getting more health benefits from whole grains, healthy fats and phytonutrients found in fruits and vegetables, than from the chocolate croissant calling your name.
The scientific literature doesn’t seem to have dedicated many resources to the question of hot versus cold breakfasts. But if “hot” is a proxy for whole grain porridge and “cold” is a proxy for a bowl of a typical cold cereal, there may be a difference. In a study of 48 adults, either eating a breakfast of oatmeal porridge or cold cereal, it was the former group that experienced more satiation, reduced hunger and ate less at lunch compared to the cold cereal group 27. The oatmeal was higher in fiber and protein, and lower in sugar but contained the same number of calories as the bowl of cereal. Knowing that, one can speculate that porridge offers some advantages not because it is hot but because of its nutritional content. In keeping with that theory, a study of adults found that having (warm) rye porridge for breakfast kept hunger at bay longer than your standard piece of (warm) white toast 28. Same temperature, different results. (As a bonus, the higher fiber content of the rye porridge may also improve cholesterol levels and digestive function).
You might next ask, “Who has time for breakfast every day of the week? Can’t I just settle on a few days and save myself time, effort and expense?” Your call, of course, but if you’re hoping to accrue as many benefits from your breakfast as possible, it may be that eating that meal seven days a week is the best option. In a study of 40,000 nurses, eating breakfast every day was associated with a lower rate of type 2 diabetes than eating breakfast 0 to 6 times per week 29. The possibility that daily breakfast offers more health benefits than eating it less frequently is also supported by the Japanese stroke study mentioned previously 14 and at least one study of school performance and metabolic health in children 5.
As already acknowledged, just as there are plenty of studies demonstrating that eating breakfast is associated with significant benefits, there are also plenty of studies which found no such thing. Further, even when an association is evident, it is very important to remember that just because A is associated with B doesn’t mean A causes B. In other words, breakfast can be associated with benefits without being responsible for said benefits. For example, maybe people who make breakfast part of their daily routine also tend to make exercise a regular part of their daily routine. If that’s true, then physical activity, rather than eating breakfast, may deserve the credit for reducing BMI, waist circumference and the risk of type 2 diabetes. And that's why as recently as 2017 it has been argued that the role breakfast plays in optimizing cognitive function, physical performance, weight, and physical health has yet to be fully established 30.
It’s up to you how much evidence is enough to justify taking a good, hard look at your breakfast habits and consider making some changes. Only you know whether the possibility of benefits is enough to justify the certainty of the effort required to make breakfast a regular part of your daily routine. If the evidence threshold has been reached, and you’re so inclined, you can always conduct your own experiment. Maybe try a daily breakfast (as “complete” and “healthy” as you can tolerate) and keep track. Does your blood pressure improve? Your ability to think clearly for the first 3 hours of the work day? If your family is joining in, do your kids seem to be more focused? More energetic? Just remember, that breakfast may not always result in short term benefits. So, a week of porridge might not be the answer to the 10 pounds you’ve been trying to lose for the last five years. But six weeks of warm oatmeal just might make a positive difference to your total cholesterol and waist circumference 31.
Some words to the wise for anyone considering becoming a breakfast evangelist. Nobody likes the food police. If you decide that breakfast is the way to go, consider becoming a scientific ambassador for the meal and not an individual who sentences your partner, or your kids to a morning bowl of unrequested and unwanted oatmeal. If you go the route of “you must eat breakfast or else…,” you may win the short term-battle but lose the war, as power struggles over food are nobody’s friend. By all means, be a proud supporter of breakfast, but lead by example not by edict. Whether the example you provide is hot cereal, scrambled eggs or a smoothie full of yogurt and berries, doesn’t really matter. What matters is that breakfast in your house is about positives, not punishment.
The science of breakfast continues to unfold and with it, our understanding of what that meal can offer our mind and body. For now, with many questions still lacking definitive, once-and-for-all, answers, it’s likely that the combination of science, common sense, and personal preference will be the guiding force for breakfast done right. It’s a reasonable starting point that hopefully will segue into an increasingly scientifically informed morning meal.
REFERENCES
Taking a break from bottling maple syrup, elderberry apple shots, and apple ginger syrup, and growing our own food, isn't easy, but if I didn't, I would've lost this incredible fiber that our sheep provided to us.
We don't have any sheep at the moment, but this is wool from the small flock of Suffolk ewes we kept for a while. After having them on the farm, they felt very natural here, maybe because the English colonists who settled in Lyme (read more here) brought them, and even had a local mill here in the town (current population ~2,000). This was the "grand dame" of the flock, known as Nancy (after my grandmother):
I taught myself (with the help of Madison Wool, in Madison CT) how to wash, card, and spin their fleece into yarn. I also had to re-learn how to knit. It felt (no pun intended) ancient and grounded, a direct link to the sun which grew the grass which the sheep ate who grew this fiber. Even though YouTube provided some of the tutorials, it all started with the sunshine.
I kept the fleece in the basement, washing it in the summer with the left-over hot water from canning, and using the heat of the sun to dry it, then carding and spinning in the winter. Only I got a little behind, and the moths eventually found my stash.
I kept it in the hot, sunny greenhouse for a while to kill the moths and their larvae. I think the 100F+ temps will do it, and here's hoping for some great, new, moth-less socks this winter.
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A sweet treat
forged from blood and sweat and tears
and tree blood and fire and dirt
of watching and waiting
till the downstorm
wakes
The townsmen complain
of crowds and tumult
knows not the joy
of the man of sap
He who hopes in Demeter
the sparks did fly
steam did billow
to make a treat fit for a Goddess.
]]>I found a recipe to dye eggs using common foods years ago -- from Martha Stewart! -- and have been using it ever since. The one pictured is the onion-skin dye, left overnight in the dye-bath.
- Eggs (store bought, see note above, but brown will work!)
- natural dyeing agents
- several large saucepans
- vinegar
- strainer
- large slotted spoon
- drying rack (optional)
Select the dyeing food (from list below), and place the quantity in a pot. Add 1 quart of water and 2 T vinegar. Add more water and vinegar if necessary to cover the food. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the dye into another pot or a bowl.
Place eggs into the pot and cover with the dye solution. Cook the eggs in the dye solution until they are hard-boiled (11-13 minutes, depending on size of eggs).
Gently remove eggs with slotted spoon and dry them on a rack or a paper towel.
You may leave some eggs in the pot longer for a richer color. I've even left them in overnight (with the heat off, of course).
Some of the dye may penetrate into the outer layer of the egg -- this is natural and you don't have to worry about eating it (!)
These are my favorites for great looking naturally-dyed eggs:
Red Cabbage -- 4 cups chopped. This makes a beautiful robins-egg blue
Turmeric -- 1/4 cup powdered turmeric -- a deep golden yellow
Onion-skin -- 3 cups onion skins (it doesn't matter the type of onion) -- a rich coppery red as in the photo!
Beets -- 3 cups chopped beets, or 2 cups of chopped beets and their green tops -- pink
Coffee -- use strongly brewed coffee (and vinegar) instead of water for a light brown color
Here's Martha Stewart's original recipe
]]>Maple syrup, or more specifically, maple sugar, was originally made by multiple Native American tribes in the northern United States and Canada for sustenance and taste. The actual moment of discovery is unknown, but there are many origin stories and folktales that give us insight into the relationship between humans and the practice of maple sugar making.
The American Maple Museum, in Croghan, New York, tells of one of the folk tales about the discovery of maple sugar, a more reduced form of maple syrup that facilitated its storage. The museum account is as follows:
Legend has it that the first maple syrup maker was an Iroquois woman, the wife of Chief Woksis. One late-winter morning, the story goes, the chief headed out on one of his hunts, but not before yanking his tomahawk from the tree where he’d thrown it the night before. On this particular day, the weather turned quite warm, causing the tree’s sap to run and fill a container standing near the trunk. The women spied the vessel and, thinking it was plain water, cooked their evening meal in it. The boiling that ensued turned the sap to syrup, flavoring the chief’s meal as never before.
The Ottawa and Chippewa Native Americans, as told by A.J. Blackbird, have legends about the use of maple sugar in their cultures that are quite similar to one another. According to the legend, the “sugar tree did produce sap, at certain seasons of the year, which was almost like pure syrup.” But then the supernatural but mischievous Ne-naw-bo-zhoo tasted it, he said it was “too cheap”, and that it would not do. “My nephews will obtain this sugar too easily in the future time and the sugar will be worthless”. Ne-naw-bo-zhoo diluted the sap until he could not taste any sweetness, and said “now, my nephews will have to labor hard to make the sugar out of this sap, and the sugar will be much more valuable to them in the future time.” (History of the Ottawa and Chippewa Indians of Michigan: a grammar of their language, and personal family history of the author. s.l. : Ypsilantian Job Printing House, 1887)
This is a direct reference to the labor-intensive nature of maple sugar, but also indicates how the Ottawa and Chippewa Native Americans understood the value and goodness of maple syrup.
Now, if only we could take our pancake out to the maple tree, hold it under the spout and have maple syrup (!)
]]>Elderberry is global because it grows on many continents, but also truly native, born and grown in the USA. There are many species of Elderberry (Sambucus) in North America, including red, blue, and ornamental types. Native Americans used many parts of the shrub, and we offer two particularly tasty parts: dried elderflowers (occasionally) and Elderberry Apple "Shots"(the pressed berry plus apple syrup) from the edible species, Sambucus Nigra spp. canadensis.
Elderberries are a heritage food. Our grandparents seem to have known more about the plant than we do today. After hearing from hundreds of customers, I've learned that most of you have a vague recollection about Uncle Ed's elderberry wine, some have wonderful memories of picking it with grandma, and a few know elderberries for health-related reasons.
Read more in Part 2 of Elderberry Lore: Everything You Wanted to Know But Were Afraid to Ask".
Click here for the Nutritional Values of Raw Elderberries, compared to blueberries and blackberries.
Click here to buy Elderberry Apple Shots.
Click here to see the complete label of our Elderberry Apple Shots.
]]>Someone walks up to a group of meditating maple trees and stabs one, hoping to see a watery solution trickle out. This is a very first and necessary step on the annual journey of making maple syrup.
And if you don’t like the sound of this first step, just wait because there are any number of steps along the way that might give someone of good conscious a reason not to eat or make maple syrup.
In fact, one could easily start wondering if the maple syrup maker (“sugar-maker”) really loves her trees at all. She often professes love for them but then if that’s true, why doesn’t she propose eating more cane sugar or agave nectar or something like that. This would save her beloved maple trees from injury and stress. Let the sugar cane plants suffer instead!
Even stealing honey in small amounts from bees seems less injurious than knifing maple trees.
Sure enough, most commercial “sugar makers” aren’t satisfied with a single hole so they put two holes into the most prosperous, longer lived trees. And it’s not good enough that sap flows freely from the trees based on the weather and internal tree pressure, so many sugar-makers attach the tree to a vacuum pump via pipelines. In effect, the tree will leak sap as if it’s in the STRATOSPHERE! No, really. Some sugar-makers are so efficient it’s like they’ve launched their trees into outer space!
And if you needed more reason to re-consider eating maple and you didn’t think poking holes in trees is invasive enough . . . sugar-makers that use the most conventional means of all – wood – to boil the sap into syrup cut up entire trees for fuel! How can that be good!
Practicality and Survival First
But living life as a human means participating in the energy equation. And that equation starts with understanding that you need to consume first the calories that you burn. And before you consume those calories you must acquire them efficiently and so on. And what I’m saying is that we all need to make a living that satisfies at least our basic needs.
And sugar-makers turn to the woodland and the trees to acquire their “Calories” so as to make a living. And as owners of small farms, as many of them are, they understand well that they can’t make a living if they aren’t efficient – even if that means putting their trees in deep space. Yes, in that commercial way maple is like so many other industries.
A Shining Example of Sustainable Agriculture
But in maple syrups’ defense I would argue that its efficiency, by and large, has not hurt the forests or the soils or impaired the quality of the finished product. Maple offers a shining example of perennial agriculture at its best with few of cultivation’s dangers (which can include soil erosion and compaction, chemical fertilization and salts, aquifer depletion, and more). So if you want to make food choices that respect earth’s soils, shift your diet toward plenty of maple syrup on a bowl of fruit (perennials) and away from vegetables (cultivated annuals). You can probably tell I am not a nutritionist.
But all farms have differences in scale and scope – and care -- so it’s impossible to lump them together. Supposedly that’s why we turn to National Organic Certification and other programs where farmers pledge to follow high standards of care. For the most part, following Organic practices helps ensure that the trees, woodland and annual production maintains its splendor. But many maple producers and consumers alike don’t believe Certified Organic methods offer enough benefit over conventional to justify the added expense. I disagree and will save the debate for another day.
Maple Production as an Extreme Sport
Regardless of how the woodland is tended and the maple syrup made, small scale syrup production calls upon an awesome array of human capacities to make the season as productive as mother nature will allow. Maple is best characterized as an extreme sport.
Generally, most sports require mental strength and physical fitness. This we know. But what makes some sports’ ‘extreme’ is that they are not undertaken in a controlled environment like a playing field and these ‘extreme’ sports involve some extra risk of serious bodily harm if things mess up. Often overlooked is a third factor – insanity -- that makes a sport or it’s sports men or women ‘extreme.’ Let me take a moment to show how maple syrup production might meet each of these elements.
Agree with me that harvesting water (sap) and making food (syrup) in the middle of the forest during February is not a controlled environment. It’s tough to stereotype sugar-makers because every operation has its uniqueness, but Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong will go wrong) is always well at hand because the playing field is a hillside or mountainside covered in trees and snow!
Wind storms, prolonged warm ups, squirrel chews, frozen pumps and valves – the perils to the business are too numerous to list, seriously. And the perils to the farmer are plenty too. By day the dutiful producer hikes hills or mountains often in deep snow and/or bitter cold checking pipelines and then stays up all night boiling maple without burning the sugarhouse down. Leak-checking by day and boiling at night might not letup for weeks during an eight-week season and this uncertainty demands even more mental stamina. And it’s the trouble-shooting of valves and pumps and equipment of all types that requires mental flexibility and constant can-do attitude for as long as each day/night/day lasts.
Are sugar makers at risk of death if they mess up – like some of these crazy mountaineers climbing straight up mountains covered in one big sheet of ice?
I do not want to start rumors about a very high incidence of mortality or injury to sugar makers during the maple season because I would like to share my passion for maple production and get more young people involved. But physical dangers do exist and are felt every year.
Lastly, I need to address how the maple producers state-of-mind (sanity) might qualify the activity of producing maple as an extreme sport. Surely, trying to turn maple sap from more than a few thousand trees into syrup without the help of reverse osmosis and other modern technologies might be considered insane. Remember, the reduction ratio is 40-50 gallons of sap to one gallon of syrup. For a grove of red maples, this ratio is about 70-80 gallons of sap to one gallon of syrup. Wow! That’s a long day and night and day and night of boiling!
Making maple syrup does not require even a tinge of insanity. I would say it necessitates, rather, a remarkably profound passion or zeitgeist (that shares a border with insanity!! haha).
I really believe that maple syrup producers are among the most passionate group of people I have met. The passion they show for their work is undercurrent to every conversation I’ve had with them. No wonder why the industry jokes that a ‘sugar-maker catches a sugar-makers disease somewhere in the first few seasons because she starts by tapping five or ten trees and then keeps expanding until she has five or ten THOUSAND.’
But really, the best way to offer insight into this passion is to describe the joy I regularly find in every season making maple syrup. It might sound as if my enthusiasm for the maple sport starts with February’s first sap run, but it really starts many months before in the build up to the new season.
My tubing crisscrosses the sugar and red maples on hillsides around our town. The trees know me. During Winter’s freeze and slumped sun the trees rest, happy with their decision to drop their leaves months before. I look at the calendar and think ‘well it should be warming up soon’ but what really gets my blood flowing is the sun getting stronger – undeniably -- each day. The cold temps ALWAYS give in to the rising sun. The freezing weather and intensifying sun are a pre-requisite for the movement of maple sap in the tree that starts every new season.
The warming temps of Spring awaken the trees and I begin to get to work. It’s really a frenzy of activity, never enough hours in a day. I race to eek out a living in this small slice of time. There are only twenty to forty nights and days during this window when the nights still freeze at the end of Winter.
Between setting taps, cleaning tanks, repairing lines, running pumps, and firing the evaporator I figure that during a single season I complete more than 10,000 discrete tasks. I’m not exaggerating. And I’m a small operation.
Maple Syrup as an Antidote to Modern Living
More than any industry that I’ve been involved with, the work of making maple syrup is done by people who love the weather, the woodland, who love the trees, and who love the annual ritual of turning sap into syrup. (And love customers too! Thank you.)
And among the many reasons I make maple syrup is that it seems to cancel out the complete abstraction that modern living has become. There’s no sitting behind a computer. I can’t pull up to the drive-thru to put food in my belly.
The feverish level of activity that starts with each Spring thaw demands so much of my human capacities – physical fitness, mental endurance, close observation of complex systems, problem solving skills, ‘common sense’ and so on – that despite the level of difficulty I am re-energized. I have purpose, and not just among and for the machines.
Making maple syrup is an inspiration that I pray rubs off on my kids. I believe maple can be a way forward, not purely a reflection of our past..
]]>The anthocyanins which give the berries their dark purple color are not included in this table. This may be the most valuable part of the berry for human health and so we are working to get this information to you. If you clicked on this hoping to find how to cure an issue in your body, we are sorry that we can't advise you. More on that here.
Each elderberry also has a seed which is larger than blueberry seeds and historical wisdom says not to eat too many elderberry seeds at one sitting. The chart does not apply to dried elderberries.
These nutritional values don't transfer into our Elderberry Apple Shots because the serving size of our Shots is very small compared to this chart's serving size. We also heat our pressed elderberry liquid to pasteurize it and neutralize any stray cyanogenic glycosides (the compounds in the leaves, unripe berries, stems, bark and roots which can make you nauseous). The heating process changes the nutritional profile.
Did you know that humans have been eating elderberries for 10,000 years? Read our "Elderberry Lore" blog articles to learn more about this incredible bush!
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