Hyldes Garden

03/07/2024

Here is a sample of the dried elderberry flower we produce on the farm. 24.5 # to be delivered to a customer tomorrow.

01/08/2024

Well, its time to order your elderberry cuttings for the upcoming season. We are Iowa’s only certified nursery for elderberries. We have York, Nova, Bob Gordon and Ranch cuttings available. Our York and Nova are particularly well suited for environments needing a winter hardy variety, but they also do quite well in warmer climates as well. You can order your cuttings from our website https://hyldesgarden.com/

06/23/2023

We've been busy picking and drying elder flower this past week. Now that most of the orchard is in bloom, the whole farm is fragrant with the distinctive aroma of elder flowers.

If you are interested in purchasing our fragrant 2023 elder flower, the time to talk to us is NOW.

Of the four main varieties of elder in our orchard, Ranch blooms first, followed by York and Nova several days later. Ranch flowers seem to open more gradually, so there are still a lot of Ranch blossoms open when York and Nova are blooming. That means there's plenty of cross pollination going around for good yields.

Bob Gordon has been the slowest of the four to bloom this year -- we're still waiting, in fact. There are lots of green buds, however.

We have a small trial row of Poco, but the plants aren't mature enough to show their stuff yet. Time will tell how and when the Pocos will bloom.

03/18/2023

Winter came early here at Hylde’s Garden and still hangs on. A brisk 7 above this morning with winds from 8 to 15 miles per hour. But Spring is just days away and there is still plenty of time to order your cuttings for this planting season. We have cuttings of York, Nova, Bob Gordon and Ranch available. https://hyldesgarden.com/

01/03/2023

Cuttings are now available to be ordered here at Hyldes Garden. Please see our Web Site for cuttings available. HyldesGarden.com

03/19/2021

The snow has retreated (Again after last weeks blizzard) and we have been able to get to the orchard and take cutting. We have York, Nova and Bob Gordon cuttings available at this time. Cuttings are priced at $2.00 per in groups of 10, with a requested minimum order of 20 total. It is suggested that you plant at least two different verities for best pollination. All of our cuttings have been treated with an OMRI listed, certified organic insecticidal oil. We are an inspected and certified nursery here in the State of Iowa.

03/07/2021

The snow has finally retreated enough that we have been able to get to the orchard and take cutting. We have both York and Nova cuttings available at this time. Cuttings are priced at $2.00 per with a requested minimum order of 20 total. Mix and match. All of our cuttings have been treated with an OMRI listed, certified organic insecticidal oil. We are an inspected and certified nursery here in the State of Iowa.

12/05/2020

One method of propagating elder plants that shows promise is planting dormant, unrooted hardwood cuttings directly into the orchard. We call it the “stick” planting method.

Does it work? This past spring, we decided to find out.

In the spring of 2020, some of our elder bushes were old enough to harvest cuttings. In early April, we direct-planted one full row of our home-grown York sticks and a partial row of Nova sticks.

Here is an overview of how we planted the sticks and how the cuttings performed --

May 28, 2020 Planting dormant hardwood cuttings (“stick” planting) DJ Growing elder The usual advice for propagating elder plants from cuttings generally goes like this — purchase or cut your own dormant hardwood cuttings either root the cuttings in water and then plant them into pots or plant...

06/29/2020

Elderberry bloom times for northeast Iowa, 2020 --

Ranch -- Early-late June. Still blooming as of this week, but the peak bloom is done

York and Nova -- Mid-late June. Blooming is largely done by now, but there are still enough young blooms for a few more light pickings

Bob Gordon -- Late June-early July. Got a first light picking this past weekend

Wyldewood -- Start early July? Not yet in bloom

05/28/2020

I have been making lots of batches of elderberry syrup this spring using frozen berries and dried berries and various recipes from my herbal references and off the internet. The experience has taught me some important tips for making a fruity, fresh tasting syrup.

A fair number of recipes on the internet combine about 1 cup of dried berries per 4 cups of water. Many suggest simmering this mixture long enough -- for hour or more -- to reduce the volume of liquid by about half.

When I use this "long cook" technique, the finished syrup has a brownish purple color and a "cooked" flavor and odor.

I even tried an Instant Pot method that cooks the berries under pressure, and the taste, odor, and color was poor. I really cannot recommend pressure cooking method for making elderberry syrup.

The off flavor can be covered up with ginger, cinnamon, and other spices, but why? In my opinion, spices should be an accent, not a cover-up.

When making herbal preparations, including elderberry syrup, the point is to extract the "goodness" of the fruits and herbs without degrading that goodness by over extraction and long heating. Don't overcook your elderberries!

The link below goes to my recipe for elderberry syrup. It includes variations for using frozen or dried berries, sugar or honey, and lemon juice or citric acid powder. I also give some suggestions for adding flavorings such as ginger, cinnamon, etc. (My fave is freshly grated ginger.)

I also explain how to sanitize the containers for the syrup, so your finished syrup will have the longest shelf life possible when stored in the fridge.

Questions? Just ask! Here's the recipe --

February 18, 2020 Elderberry syrup DJ All Recipes, Elderberry recipes Our recipe for elderberry syrup calls for simmering the berries and liquid for a brief time followed by a gentle steep off the heat, all in a covered pan. This gentle infusion method creates a deep purple syrup that smells and tas...

04/03/2020

We've sold the last of our frozen elderberries this past week, but we still have dried berries and dried elderflower in stock.

I have been making quite a few batches of elderberry syrup of late using both dried and frozen berries.

The dried berries work really well, as long as the syrup is not cooked to death.

Many recipes recommend using half the elderberries but then say to reduce the volume of the syrup by half with a long simmer. This long cook time is not energy efficient and it is not necessary for making an herbalist's infusion. In addition, a long cook time adds a dull "cooked" flavor to the syrup.

I really like adding cinnamon and ginger to the recipe. The ginger adds a refreshing zip to the syrup.

If you're running short of honey, by all means substitute sugar. Sugar and honey are used in this recipe to increase the shelf life of the syrup (as well as make it taste good.) If you want to use a no-calorie sweetener, be extra careful to keep the syrup refrigerated and use it promptly.

Here's the recipe: https://hyldesgarden.com/elderberry-syrup/

FYI -- I'm doing trials of an elderberry gummy recipe. It uses the elderberry syrup as the main ingredient, so you can make a batch of syrup and use it as-is or in gummies or both.