Elderberry Grape Jelly

I designed my backyard to be as edible as possible. The border along the back fence includes lavender, currants, gooseberries, elderberries, and raspberries.

Every August the elderberry bushes bend with the weight of the dark purple berries. This year I was late in harvesting, but still filled several bowls with the clusters of small elderberries.

My grapevines covered the fence but when I looked under the leaves, my harvest was not as large as in previous years. Could it have been the cold spring? I did get enough juice for the elderberry jelly and made raisins with the sweet green Himrod grapes.

To juice the grapes and elderberries I use a steam juicer - so easy. I spent some time removing the fruit from the stems by sliding a fork down the stem, easily popping off the berries and grapes. I juiced each kind of fruit separately, then following the directions from the low sugar pectin I made jelly! I used the proportions for grape jelly and did about 3/4 elderberry juice and 1/4 grape juice. I like the mix better than straight elderberry jelly, but have made that in the past and it's good too! The extra grape juice went into quart jars for special occasions. 

The finished product - Elderberry Grape Jelly 2010!