Elderberry Wisdom Farm Cosponsors International Elderberry Symposium in June

EWF’s Founding Director Rose High Bear (Deg Hit’an Dine, Inupiaq) has been invited to attend the 19th Annual Elderberry Conference at University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri June 18-20. She will participate on a panel with University of California -Davis featuring Sambucus nigra ssp Cerulea, blue elderberry. Elderberry Wisdom Farm has also been welcomed as a co-sponsor of the conference. 

Photo of Sambucus nigra ssp Cerulea (Blue Elderberry)

Her presentation is titled: Commitment to Sambucus nigra ssp Cerulea from a Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Habitat Restoration, and Business Perspective. EWF is committed to work with this native plant species, and will discuss its importance from a cultural, ecological and business perspective. It is a powerful ethnobotanical that provides medicine sought after by today’s increasingly health-conscious consumer. The plant enriches the environment, its root strengthening the earth and the biodiversity of the soil, while it nourishes the black tail deer who love to nibble on its leaves. Its flowers blossom over four months in the spring and summer with berries produced for several months throughout the summer. 

The hybrid business, Blue Elderberry Farm LLC, was formed in 2021 to serve as EWF’s social and economic development initiative. Rose is developing it as an example of a hybrid business model to other Native Americans interested in forming a microenterprise. The feasibility study and business plan was completed in 2022 and we are now scheduling the launch of the production on a small scale in 2025 and 2026 at local farmer’s markets. It is a challenging plant to grow so production was delayed due to crop losses in 2022 and 2024. However, the orchard is still growing and exhibiting healthy crops, with transition to organic certification currently planned through 2027. The marketing plan has been developed with a soft launch scheduled for September 2025 and 2026 when the first pilot projects will be held at the local Salem Farmer’s Market in Oregon’s state capitol.