Elderberry fruition

Following on from my musings about manana, I am happy to say that elderberries represent a good case in point for me. *Last* year, I put them in my blackberry and apple pies and developed a real taste for them. I froze a few bags full and they were fantastic in the winter for adding to pies and crumbles. I vowed that next year, I would freeze a lot.

I took the kids (mine plus the BF's) out foraging this weekend, with the express intent of getting elderberries. Ok, so my two year old didn't do so well, but my 5 year old proved an excellent forager, even developing his own alarm sound for the presence of edible goodies. I'm not sure how much we collected in weight, but I've been stripping elderberries whilst mainlining three back to back episodes of River Cottage this evening, I've put four piesworth in the freezer, alongside the four I did yesterday and I still have a huge bag in the fridge to do. A resolution very satisfactorily brought to fruition.

A rather obvious, but hitherto unthought thought has also occured to me as a result of this. I should work out roughly how much of whatever it is that I actually plan on eating and therefore how much to aim to grow, preserve or freeze. I could happily use a bag of elderberries a week throughout winter, so that's about 15- 20 bags. Hmm, I am just going to have to get that chest freezer I've been thinking about...