Baskets and baskets and bags full of Elderberry!

Amazing harvest this year- and a time of real learning too.

I've got two main areas for elderberry plants- I grow the variety sambucus canadensis Adams- which grows very conveniently as a bush. I've got one patch that I planted on its' own- in rows. And in the 24 year old Food Forest I've got another patch which is mixed in with lots of different types of plum trees. And guess where the most productive patch is? The one with the plum trees. Go figure! In the elderberry patch where I have planted the elder plants in rows I've created a mono-culture! Shaming I know. So the birds have got nothing else to look at apart from the elder berries- and I have to fight them for every berry I get. Whereas, in the area with the plum trees- well wouldn't anybody prefer a nice juicy plum over a few berries? So the elder berries remain virtually untouched- well until I come and collect them!

Funny eh?? Talk about learning all the time. So what I am now doing you will be relieved to know- I've started throwing plum seeds all throughout my mono-culture. Mono-culture be-gone!! I will also follow up with some more fruit tree plantings.

So there you go! lesson learned!