It’s that magical time of year again—elderberry harvest season at Fat Stone Farm! The 2025 harvest was a standout, delivering an excellent yield despite being slightly down from our record-breaking 2024.

After a jaw-dropping flowering display this spring—the biggest we’ve ever seen—our hopes were sky-high. By late July, reality set in with a lower pollination and berry-set than last year.... something we're always trying to improve but kinda went backwards this season! We're fertilizing this fall with fish emulsion and see the results already with new leaf growth. Fingers crossed this improves our berry-set in 2026. 

One challenge? Those pesky ground bees! We dodged their stings nearly every day, adding a bit of adventure to the harvest. But nothing could dampen our spirits. Three of us bended tall canes, avoided bees and soaked up the sun. We visited each bush many times, only cutting the darkest clusters off and waiting for the entire bush to finish producing.

Pictured above is our bladder-press style juicer where the berries are pressed into juice. The berries' final destination is in Elderberry Apple Shots, Elderberry Juice, and our organic American Farm Soda, Elderberry Cherry flavor. Hope you try some today!