I've just drained the last bottle of elderberry syrup and used the last frozen elderberries in the freezer for last's nights mushroom and elderberry gravy that we had with roast vegetables. It seems appropriate as the first leaves appear on the elder trees in the garden and we anticipate Spring and Summer and the last of the cold season. I'm pretty sure it's worked so far - I tend to use it when everyone is snuffling a lot around me and I'm trying to ward off a cold, but it's brilliant when you have one too.

This fortnight's challenge for @naturalmedicine asks the Steemiverse for natural home remedies - any remedies from bee stings to burns, from hayfever to snoring, from anxiety to sprained ankles, from sleepless nights to sinus infections! Whilst I'm not eligible to enter, I thought I'd write one too - and inspire you to enter the challenge here, and thus add to the cornucopia, which essentially means a collection of good stuff!

Natural medicines are the bomb. Not only are they are a great cure for many of our ailments, but they are relatively free, and you become so involved with the medicine that it seems a kind of meditation with the plant that you're using and a wider, more rich connection to nature around us. Elderberries are particularly special for this, and we planted them in the garden especially, starting with one and ending up with four, as they are very, very easy to propagate. I have written about elder trees before, such is my love for them:

The underlying energy of the Elder tree is connected to the triple goddess – maiden, mother, crone – particularly taking on the wise-woman or crone aspect as she is symbolic of that time in the darkness before potential regeneration and rebirth..... she is also always been imbued with a sense of the sacred as she is Queen of the Earth indeed with her bounty – flowers for cordials and wines, elderberries for syrup and medicine, cordials and wine.

However in this post, I wanted to talk more specifically about their use as a handy cold and flu remedy and even preventative.


Our bodies use the antioxidants from plants such as berries to neutralise free radicals which can harm us, leading to cancer and other illnesses. In one study including the black elder, this species was found to have a higher antioxidant capacity than cranberries or blueberries, and we all know how wonderful they are in that regard! Elderberry juice is rich in total phenolics, anthocyanins, and flavonols, all which correlate with such antioxidant activity. I found this table quite useful when considering the properties of elderberries too - check the Vitamin C content of these babies!!! Vitamin A is also perfect for colds - there's a reason pumpkin soup is good for us when we're ill (that's the Australian in me talking, because I know it's not as common in other countries, but it's our go to here, loaded with garlic too!)

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I've never eaten lozenges to soothe a sore throat or to help a cold because I don't believe the high glucose content of many over the counter cold remedies is useful. My sister in law eats cake when she has a cold, believing she needs to keep her strength up, but I've always thought sugar aids inflammation and when you're ill, you need to reduce that. Most traditional recipes for elderberry syrup contain sugar, but I don't like that idea and thus adapted my elderberry syrup recipe accordingly.

However, I'm going to include two recipes below, just for interest's sake. I have made both, but prefer the honey one, especially if you're using a good quality raw honey as it has more medicinal value.

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Pick the ripe elderberries on a dry day. Strip the fruit from the stems (I use a fork) and put in a pan, covering with water. Simmer until the berries are super soft, and strain through a muslin cloth. Measure the juice and add half a kilo of sugar to each half litre of juice. Heat the juice gently until the sugar is dissolved, then boil for 10 minutes and leave until cold.

You can add this to tea with whiskey and lemon or simply administer with a teaspoon - 1 tsp a day as a preventative, as many as you like when you're ill. You can use it as a cordial too.

Honey is very good for preserving the syrup, so it'll last longer with this in it. However, it's also fabulous for suppressing coughs (I'll talk about this more in another post where I use honey for another home remedy) and one study found it was particularly beneficial for children's upper respiratory tract infection, helping them to sleep. This is my preferred recipe - plus it tastes good.

1 part ripe elderberries
2 parts water
1 part raw honey

I really love putting other medicinal herbs in this mix too. Ginger and cinnamon are warming, thyme is is brilliant to relieve chest and respiratory problems, coughs, colds, and bronchitis. It's also antibacterial, antifungal and spasmolytic - so it helps fight against the things that cause bronchitis and helps calm down those horrible spasmodic coughs.

As per recipe number 1, simmer the elderberries and spices and herbs if using, then strain and cool. Add the honey but don't reheat as it will lose it's medicinal properties.

Vegans might like to use coconut sugar or other sugar alternatives, or even sweeteners like stevia, which I personally hate. Of course these will influence how long it lasts, but it does last pretty well in the fridge over the flu season. I definitely keep my honey syrup in the fridge.

There are all sorts of other natural medicines and yumminess you can add to the mixture - lemon, cloves, tangerine peel, oregano, and so on. Some like to freeze the syrup in icecubes, and some like to make gummies out of them, which I am ABSOLUTELY trying next season!

Do you make elderberry syrup? What's your variation?

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