Elderberry (Sambucus)

The American elderberry has also been called blackberry elder, Canadian elder, common elder, common elderberry, elderberry, elder-blow, pie elder and sweet elder.

The elderberries are deciduous shrubs growing naturally in North America. The American elder is native to eastern and central North America, east of the Rocky Mountain, ranging from Nova Scotia south to Florida and west to Manitoba and Texas.

In ancient times these members of the honeysuckle family were often planted around houses to keep away the evil spirits, as well as lighting.

The plant grows in shady, wet places, frequently in the undergrowths of forests. It is highly versatile plant, since almost all its portions have been used by man. It has been used as food, medicine, and to make tools ornaments.

The mature fruits of elderberries are other blue, black, or red. Those that are blue or black are edible for humans when cooked, and are relished, especially when ripe by birds, big games, other wild life, and sometimes by domestic livestock.
Elderberry (Sambucus) 

Planting blueberry plants

Blueberry plants can be obtained from the nursery bare-rooted, potted or balled-and-burlapped.

Because most blueberries are no self-fertile, the plant must at least two different cultivars to get fruit, and three are even more effective for good cross-pollination.

For growing blueberries successfully, the plants must be vigorous and produce good crops each year.

Plant bushes should be 1 to 2 inches deeper than they were in nursery and 4 to 6 feet in rows spaced 8 to 10 feet apart.

Blueberries are shallow-rooted so all he nutrients and moisture the plants need must be available in the top few inches of soil.

They grow well in acidic soil. If the soil is alkaline, aluminum sulfate needs to be added to lower the pH to below 6. On fertile soils very little fertilizer may be required, but in poor soils larger amounts may be necessary to maintain satisfactory growth.

Although blueberries can be planted in the fall, spring planting is safer and is recommended in most areas.
Planting blueberry plants

Bilberry

The bilberry is closely related to the blueberry. Sometimes bilberry s called European blueberry.

It grows in sandy areas and woods in the northern United States and in Europe, especially northern and central Europe.

Bilberry is a shrub that grows to about 16 inches high. It has oval, pointed leaves and small pink and white flowers.

It is smaller and blue throughout the pulp, a visible sign that it is even richer in anthocyanins, pigments that are high in health promoting antioxidants.

In the late summer, its dark purple berries are ripe to pick. It has a long history of being used as a treatment for diabetes.

Bilberry extract may play a significant role in the prevention and treatment of glaucoma via its effect on collagen structures in the eye. Bilberry extracts also can help protect the stomach against ulcers, it stimulates production of stomach mucus, which protects against digestive acids.

Researchers have long known that the pharmacologically active constituents in bilberries are flavonoids known as anthocyanosides. During World War II, British fighter pilots reported improved nighttime vision after eating bilberry jam.

Bilberry

Processing of Cranberries

Processing of Cranberries
At the processing plant, cranberries are cleaned in fanning mills, then dropped some distance to eliminate soft or rotten specimens (the defective berries do not bounce, those suitable for food bounce up over a barrier), then washed, first in acid or alkaline solutions to remove spray residues, then in water. Determining is carried out in a rotating vegetable peeler fitted with a smooth bottom plate.

Cranberries handled as fresh are packed in paper fined wooden boxes, and the product is slowly cooled to 36 – 40 degree F. Cranberries should be held at 36 - 40 degree F until sold to the consumer. At this temperature, cranberries have a storage life of several months. Cranberries may be held frozen prior to the manufacture of jelly or sauce. They are placed in large metal containers, frozen, in bulk in cold-air rooms, and held in this condition until defrosted for purposes of preparing cooked products.
Processing of Cranberries