1. When the elder is ripe
The harvest window for black elder is short. In Central Europe the ripe, blackish-violet berries appear from late summer into early autumn, at our site sometime between early and mid September, with a harvest window often lasting only about ten days.[4][3][2][1] Why so brief? The birds take the ripe umbels quickly, as soon as the berries turn,[4] and shortly after the peak the aroma takes on a vinegary note at our site. Read this time span as a local observation, not a fixed date on the calendar. Altitude, year and site shift the window by days.[1]
In the encyclopediaElderberryWhat black elder is as a plant and an ingredient, from its taxonomy to its constituents, is covered in the encyclopedia entry. This piece stays with the harvest.Look at the colour. A ripe umbel is deep blackish-violet, with no green left in the cluster.[4][5][2] If green still hangs in the cluster, wait. Ripe umbels hang low and nod under their own weight.[6] The single berry is a small drupe, roughly four to eight millimeters across.[3][4][5] Harvest only when you have confidently identified the plant as black elder. Colour, scent and the thumb test alone are not enough to identify the species. If uncertain, leave the plant and seek knowledgeable help.
On a single shrub not all umbels ripen in lockstep.[2] Move slowly through the stand and pick the deep blackish-violet umbels first. Leave any with a greenish tint for a few more days, then return. This spreads your harvest across the short window, and you give the later umbels time to catch up.
2. The thumb test
You need very little. Clean scissors or a sharp knife, a basket or a flat tray for the umbels, and for later a fork or a perforated baking sheet. A spot in the freezer helps, but is not a must.
Now for the test our family relies on. Press lightly with your thumb on a single berry in the cluster. When the first juice appears, it is time to harvest. If the thumb goes through the berry without resistance, the umbel is past its best. Work around the shrub and check several umbels, because not all ripen at the same pace. This is how you read ripeness with your hand, where colour alone gives only half the answer. After a few umbels you get a feel for it, and you need the test only as a check.
Cut whole umbels with clean scissors, one after another, and do not pluck single berries. This protects the fruit, keeps the cut clean and leaves the shrub healthy shoots for the next year. Elderberries are not usually harvested by machine; the work is done by hand. Remove the individual berries later, in the kitchen.
Light thumb press, first juice: harvest now. If the thumb goes through, it is too late.
3. From the field into the kitchen, the same day
Harvest on a dry morning, once the dew has dried off. Wet fruit is harder to handle and keeps less well. Bring the umbels into the shade soon after the cut and cool them down quickly, and keep the time until processing short. As a rule of thumb from practice and from a University of California guide on postharvest handling: cool soon after the harvest and process the same or the next day.[7] This is general handling guidance, rather than guidance developed specifically for Austrian growing conditions. If you cannot manage it in one day, put the umbels in the refrigerator or freeze them, rather than letting them stand warm.
There are two good ways to free the berries from the stems. Fresh, you strip them off with a fork or roll the umbels over a perforated baking sheet, so that the berries fall through and the stems stay on top. Easier still when frozen. Lay the whole umbels in the freezer and rub the berries off once they are frozen hard. Freezing preserves the fruit and at the same time makes destemming easier.
What happens then with the clean berries, from syrup to concentrate, belongs in the recipe section and in the related pieces of this series. Here the harvest ends with cooled, destemmed fruit, ready for the pot.
4. Ripe and cooked
The deep color of the ripe berry comes from its anthocyanins, the pigments of the fruit. What these pigments are and what they are not is handled in the dedicated piece on the anthocyanins.
5. Frequently asked questions
How do I tell that elderberries are ripe?
By the color and by the thumb. Ripe umbels are deep blackish-violet, with no green left in the cluster, and they hang low.[6][4][5][2] If you press lightly with your thumb on a berry and the first juice comes out, it is time.
Can I freeze fresh elderberries?
Yes. Freezing preserves the fruit and makes destemming easier. Freeze the whole umbels and rub the berries off once they are frozen hard.
How do I free the berries from the umbels?
Fresh, you strip them off with a fork or roll the umbels over a perforated baking sheet, so that the stems stay on top. Or frozen, by rubbing the berries off the stems once they are frozen hard.
How quickly must I process the harvest?
Cool soon after the harvest and process the same or the next day.[7] Harvest on a dry morning, keep the fruit cool and the time until processing short.
Why are elderberries not eaten raw?
Dried or frozen berries are also cooked before eating. Raw and unripe berries as well as the green parts carry cyanogenic glycosides, which is why you pick the green parts out and cook the berries.[7][3][5]