Understanding Cranberries and Elderberries

Cranberries

Vaccinium macrocarpon

Cranberries can be confusing. The type we possibly do not know so well, is the true cranberry –Vaccinium macrocarpon. Think American - cranberry pies and cranberry sauce.

These cranberries like moist, acidic soils. They are low creeping plants 10 cm in height and can spread to 2m wide. The varieties ‘Bergman’ and ‘Crowley’ are the common varieties for sale in NZ. Plants have small green leaves with pretty pink starry flowers in spring.

Harvesting is in March and April when the berries change from white to a very deep red in autumn and at the same time the leaves will take on a purple hue. It can take 16 months for the ber- ries to ripen. Theses berries will need to be cooked or used in preserves.

The berries are known to be bacteria fighting and are commonly used in natural remedies.

Propagation is by semi hard wood cuttings in late summer.

The cranberry I grow and know well is the NZ Cranberry or Chilean guava - Myrtus ungi

These are a small evergreen shrub that is hardy - being both frost and drought tolerant. It is a great fruiting hedge plant or topiary specimen, but be aware, it is susceptible to thrip’s.

The plant has small white flowers and pea sized aromatic berries that also ripen in March and April. Just pick and eat these berries off the shrub, and a bonus, the birds seem to leave the fruit alone.

Plants will start fruiting 2-3 years after planting. Each plant could produce 1 kg of fruit increasing by a kg a year to an approx. yield of 5 kg’s after 5 years. Propagates easily anytime except spring, when the foliage is soft.

ELDERBERRY

Sambucus nigra

Elderberry grows like a weed on NZ roadsides. I myself harvest from these areas yearly. Be sure to give what you harvest - a good rinse. They are a smallish multi stemmed tree or large shrub. These plants like cool, moist and nitrogen rich loamy soil in partial shade. But it could be said they are not really bothered by disease, climate, or insects. Seeds are easily spread by birds - making the plant a bit of a nuisance.

I grow the variety Sambucus nigra ‘Black Beauty’ here.

It is not performing well yet, but I think it is very pretty with its chocolate/black coloured leaves and to be a bit different - pink flowers. I will need to investigate if I can use it in Elderberry syrup. Harvest the creamy white flowers heads off the ‘commoner’ to make the below drink, delicious in water, soda or lemonade. The black berries are harvested for making wine.

2.

3. Strain into sterilised bottles.