Was checking the garden today and noticed that I had quite a few elderberries ripe.

The berries are not ripe until they are fully black or dark purple. Unripe berries will make your stomach very unhappy. There are two parts of elder that we use as herbalists: The berries and the flowers. The leaves and twigs are considered poisonous – not necessarily as in ‘kill you dead’ poisonous, but ‘you may wish you were dead’ poisonous. Either way – just don’t use them.

Elder is an expectorant, diuretic, diaphoretic, and nervine – in other words, great for colds and flu. The flowers are considered more gentle than the berries, but both are safe for children. Elder is one of the few herbal anti-virals, and has even been studied by the World Health Organization and found by them to be effective against upper respiratory viruses.

I don’t use the flowers as much as the berries, but elderflower can make a really nice tea or cordial. I do sometimes see it sold as a beverage as well – usually in with the tonic waters or syrups.

It’s almost that time – to start making elderberry syrup for cold and flu season. The syrup works great as a preventative and tastes good (that always helps with compliance!) I make mine with cane sugar so that even littles can take it. You can make it with honey, but then it can’t be used by anyone under the age of 2. I like to add other herbs to mine as well, like lemon balm (another anti-viral, especially indicated for herpes viruses), reishi mushroom (to boost the immune system), and ginger (adds flavor, is warming, and helps move it around the body).

What are your favorite cold and flu preventatives? How are they working for you? Maybe this year, you should try elder if you haven’t before.