Growing Elderberry John Hayden The Farm Between Jeffersonville, VT

Growing Elderberry
John Hayden
The Farm Between
Jeffersonville, VT
How Elderberry Fits in Our Farming
System
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Intro to the farm
Why Elderberry
Varieties
Planting methods
Fertility and Weed Management
Pest Management
Harvest
Marketing
OUR EVOLUTION
over 24 years
3 year old elderberry bush
Flowers are marketable too
From livestock and veggies
To a higher calling - Fruit
Markets: Direct Retail,
Wholesale (Intervale Food Hub
and Local Stores)
And a Fruit Nursery!
Providing
habitat and floral
resources for
beneficials
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Bombus ternarius on Phacelia from our NESARE
Cover Crop Research
Elderberries
• Not well know by the general public
• Limited direct retail for fresh fruit
• In demand by Specialty Beverage Industry,
food entrepreneurs, herbalists
• ‘Superberries’ with nutraceutical properties
• Cold hardy, easy to grow, can thrive in
marginal sites
• Few serious pests, excellent wildlife plants
Elderberries
• Cultivated varieties of Sambucus canadensis
• We have trialled European Sambucus nigra
‘Samyl’, Sampo and ‘Samdal’ –died back last
two winters
• Can yield up to 10 lbs/plant and fast to pick
• Need to be de-stemmed
Elder Variety Trial
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Johns
Adams
Nova
York
Scotia
Wyldewood
Bob Gordon
Marge
Planting
Traditional Establishment Method
Till a strip into a cover crop
Fertility Mgmt.
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Compost
Ramial Wood Chips
Mow and Blow
Chop and Drop
• Striving for Diverse and Healthy
Microbial Population in the Rhizosphere
and beyond!
No-till
2 year old aronia with landscape fabric and mulch in a field prone to flooding
Pests:
Weeds
Birds
Bird Protection
Photo: Ginger Nickerson
Spotted Wing Drosophila
Elderberry Cane Borer
Eriophid mites
Harvesting
Photo: Ginger Nickerson
Destemming
Marketing Elderberry
PYO (stems on) $4/lb
Frozen destemmed (wholesale) $6/lb
Fresh flowers (lightly destemmed) $12/lb
Value added products