The Truth Behind Your Elderberry Syrup: A Farmer's Perspective

​​Heartland Elderberry Farms – Pure. Potent. Purposeful.

At Heartland Elderberry Farms, we are passionate about creating the highest-quality elderberry syrup available today. Founded by husband-and-wife team Russell and Jessica Carter, our journey began with a simple but powerful realization: most elderberry syrups on the market were diluted, overly processed, and lacking in potency. We believed there had to be a better way — so we built it ourselves.

Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, our farm cultivates six unique varieties of American elderberries, grown with care and purpose. From our fields to your bottle, every step of the process is rooted in quality, integrity, and a deep respect for nature’s remedies.

Russell Carter shares the journey of Heartland Elderberry Farms and reveals why most commercial elderberry products don't deliver the potency consumers expect. The conversation uncovers the superior benefits of fresh-pressed elderberry compared to reconstituted dried berries commonly used in the marketplace.

• Heartland Elderberry Farms began as a family beekeeping business before expanding into elderberry cultivation
• Nearly 95% of commercial elderberry products list water as the first ingredient because they use imported dried berries
• Dehydration process destroys up to 40% of elderberry's beneficial compounds
• Elderberry contains unique compounds that protect cells against infection
• Fresh elderberries contain three times more antioxidants than blueberries
• Quality elderberry products should not list water as the first ingredient
• Heartland's syrup contains over 80% pure elderberry juice
• The farm grows six different elderberry varieties
• Elderberry plants thrive in moist soil conditions and are relatively easy to grow
• Pure elderberry juice is quite tart, which is why it's often combined with honey

To learn more about quality elderberry products or to try fresh-pressed elderberry syrup, visit heartlandelderberryfarms.com.

Chapters

• 0:48 Meet Russell Carter of Heartland Elderberry
• 4:11 From Beekeeping to Elderberry Farming
• 6:01 The Problem with Commercial Elderberry Products
• 10:33 Starting a Family Elderberry Business
• 15:57 Health Benefits of Fresh Elderberries
• 19:02 Growing Elderberry Plants at Home
• 24:42 How to Identify Quality Elderberry Products

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:25

Hi, how are you? This is the Mindfully Integrative Show and this is Damaris Ryan Grossman. And we have an amazing guest today, the owner of Heartland Edelberry Farms, and his name is Russell Carter. Him and his partner and his family have been doing edelberry since he was young, but his story, his farm and what edelberry is Maybe some of you don't know what it is and why is it important and why do I? I'm a pretty big advocate as a healthcare professional why you need it, especially during these times of the season if it's winter time for you right now, and that you can understand why people need it for their immune system. But you can go more into that, I know you can. So, mr Carter, how are you doing?

Speaker 2: 1:07

Doing well. Thank you very much for having us.

Speaker 1: 1:09

I appreciate you being on the show and you know let's, let's check in. So what is something that people don't know about you? They've never, you know, couldn't find you on the internet. What's that?

Speaker 2: 1:19

Oh boy, you can find anything on the internet these days. Oh yeah, so not a well, something that's really not heavily discussed is, apart from the elderberry farm that we own and operate, we also own a commercial beekeeping operation, and we've actually been doing that longer, which is a great complimentary business for the elderberry, because our beekeeping business produces all of the raw honey that we use in our products.

Speaker 1: 1:58

So amazing, amazing, amazing, and it probably just makes the elderberry taste even better.

Speaker 2: 2:04

Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1: 2:08

And so, first off, do you handle the bees or do you have you used to handle the bees?

Speaker 2: 2:12

oh, 100 yeah you do. Yeah, the, the, our, my bee suit is definitely dirty. There's an old saying don't trust a beekeeper that has a clean bee suit, the uh. But yeah, there's we. We definitely have help. Now we've grown to a point where point where it's no longer a one-man operation but there's a team of us now, but I'm definitely in there with them almost every day. Oh, that's really cool.

Speaker 1: 2:36

And where are you guys located?

Speaker 2: 2:37

So we are in northern Indiana.

Speaker 1: 2:40

Oh, and is it hard to do your farm in the colder months, or you just make it work during the winter?

Speaker 2: 2:45

You can definitely raise bees. You can definitely raise bees in Indiana and overwinter them. They do just fine in colder climates. I mean there's beekeepers, commercial operations in Canada even that are very successful. We do actually transport our bees by a semi down to Georgia. In the wintertime it's a little bit easier for it's a little easier for them to overwinter for one and then two. In February in South Georgia it's already 80 degrees right. So the build, the buildup, the spring buildup the beehives have happens much sooner in Georgia. So by the time they come back to Indiana they're already really at full strength, ready to make honey.

Speaker 1: 3:26

So oh, that's so neat. Oh, that's really fascinating. Okay, so I need some honey, I need some metal berry, but let's kind of talk about what kind of got you to that point actually, to what business and a farm on this. So I I'm assuming your family has had farms. What made you get into this? I mean, this isn't something that the average person would be like okay, that's yeah, yeah for sure.

Speaker 2: 3:52

So it really did start with just the beekeeping business, as we kind of talked about just briefly before the podcast. We have been a big advocate of elderberries. Even as a kid we were taking elderberries. My parents were doing it Back then, growing up out in the country, we just foraged for the berries, right. They grow wild Almost all over the country. They grow wild and there's a lot of folks still out there doing that, which is fantastic. Just going riverbeds, creek beds, you know, just out in the country you can, you can find them growing a lot of places. So that's kind of what spurred us to do it. And then as we, as I kind of grew up and transitioned more into my adult life with my wife and our kids, we continue to give our, our family, elderberry products. With that said, what is currently in the market is really an I will call it an inferior product, and the reason why I say that and you mentioned that you're a big elderberry advocate- I mean I wonder if I and my stuff is probably junk compared to yours.

Speaker 2: 4:47

Now I'm looking at it must must be, and we'll talk about it. So, and listen, so I'm just an elderberry farmer, so like, don't just, don't just take my word for this Right, so like, and I tell everybody that we talk to this is kind of an educational thing. There are different levels of potency when it comes to elderberry products, not just in elderberry syrup and the gummies and things like that, but just in how they're manufactured. So on the market today as a whole about 95% of all commercially available elderberry syrups whether you buy it at the grocery store, cvs, farmer's markets, it doesn't matter it's literally about 95% the number one ingredient on the back of these labels is water. Okay, so it's like, why in the world would you add water to an elderberry syrup? And the reason is is because nobody is growing elderberries. It is such a niche farming operation.

Speaker 2: 5:49

There are only a handful of what I would consider commercial elderberry growers in the United States. It actually is on the rise, but there's still really really sparse commercial operations out there. But you see elderberry syrups everywhere. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of small to medium to large elderberry syruprups everywhere. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of small to medium to large elderberry syrup producers out there. Where are these berries coming from? Right, there's not that many growers in the United States, so the answer is they have to import them. So they import them from overseas, and they come as a dehydrated berry. Okay, so in order for you to make a syrup, the first thing you have to do is reconstitute that berry, which is why there's water added to it. The problem with that is kind of a twofold thing. One, the level of reconstitution, that rate there's no standard, clearly waters it down.

Speaker 2: 6:44

Yeah, there's no standard there. It's just like however much water that you want to add to your dried elderberries to reconstitute it. That's what it is. So you end up with a pretty highly diluted elderberry syrup right off the bat. Two during the dehydration process, you can lose up to 40% of the antioxidants and some of the nutritional value that's found in the elderberries just because they're dehydrating them. So it really is. It really what I said earlier it's kind of an inferior product. If you're looking for a potent, a true full strength, potent elderberry syrup, it has to be from fresh elderberries and if it's and really if it's from anything, you know if it's from a dried berry, it berry. It's really not the best that you can get.

Speaker 1: 7:30

Yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 2: 7:31

Yeah. So as I met my wife, we had kids we kind of continued the tradition. Certainly during the cold and flu season we gave elderberry products. But just like so many Americans out there, we're like we want the best right, we want to give our kids the best that you can get. And I remember as a kid making fresh elderberry syrup from fresh berries and then tasting and looking at what was on the market like man, this is not that good. Like the taste isn't good, it's not fresh. And then diving into it kind of uncovered what was happening, like why is all these berries? Like, why does all these elderberry syrups contain water?

Speaker 1: 8:12

And then you know it kind of real truth of it.

Speaker 2: 8:14

Yeah, I just went down this rabbit hole almost of of discovery on on what? How is elderberry? How is all these producers producing these elderberry syrups? So my wife and I do have some property, so you know, we're like you know, just for personal use about six years ago, we've been doing the bee business. We had that raw honey. We've been doing that and so it's like, hey, we have honey, let's just plant a small planting for our family and we'll just, we'll just grow our own elderberries.

Speaker 2: 8:42

It was only about 50 plants that we planted and immediately when we made our first batch after our first harvest, it was like we couldn't, we weren't even trying to sell it. It was like we were kind of giving it away to family and friends and it was like holy cow, like this is amazing in taste. The color differential between a dried berry and a fresh berry is pretty interesting. The fresh berry is dark purple Like. It just looks like it's a fresh. The dehydrated berries like a brownish color and that actually is important because that color is an is an anti antioxidant that causes that color. So I think you lose that in the dehydration process, but it just was like kind of eye opening, like this is the path like.

Speaker 2: 9:27

If you're going to take an elderberry syrup, this is, this is the process that we should be going through to make it, and every year since then we plant thousands of elderberry plants on our property and we have actually now other farmers working with us, working with Heartland, to supply all of the fresh berries that we need for our product. So that is really how we kind of came to be. It was like and I think that you know a lot of people talk about starting a business just out of just something they wanted to do for themselves and then realize that there was an opportunity there and there was a unique product that is currently not available. So it's just kind of been a. We certainly did not set out when we first planted our first berries. We had not set out when we first planted our first berries, we had not set out to start an elderberry company uh it was just something.

Speaker 2: 10:13

It was just something that came to be and was like okay, this is, this is something that we can kind of go after that's really fascinating, but I mean it's obviously successful, you know, and, but you definitely put a lot of literally, heart into it.

Speaker 1: 10:25

So you do this day in and day out, but you've also, if you know, by word of you know, talking to people and letting them understand your product is better. It's not just and then why is it better? Like, what is, what's the benefits of elderberry? Because some people don't understand that.

Speaker 2: 10:40

Yeah, for sure. So there are a couple things. One, there are compounds in elderberry that are only found in a handful of things, elderberry included that will protect your cells against infection. So if you are taking elderberry we'll even say through the cold and flu season you are essentially protecting your body from the incubation period when you come in contact with somebody that has the cold or the flu. So recent studies, they kind of prove what everybody has thought for generations, literally that it does shorten the life of the cold and flu virus or it stops it from happening altogether. So that is the main benefit for the cold and flu season. The second thing and not a lot of people understand this is that elderberry has one of the highest levels of antioxidants of any food out there. I mean it is like any berry through?

Speaker 2: 11:38

I didn't. Actually I didn't know that either. It is through the roof, I mean. So there was a pushback in the early 2000s for blueberries, like, oh, you should eat blueberries super high in antioxidants. And partially I mean that certainly is true, but that is something that was mass mass commercially available. Right, you can, you can commercially provide elder blueberries to everybody. So they were just kind of helping educate the the consumer, like, hey, you should take blueberries because they're high in antioxidants. Elderberry has three times the level of antioxidants of blueberries, so so, and that just never gets talked about because nobody, very, very few people are growing elderberries commercially.

Speaker 1: 12:20

Oh, so the use of it. And well, hopefully, that'll, you know, spring even more, but then you're going to be, you're going to be very busy.

Speaker 2: 12:27

Yeah, exactly, yeah, right, Exactly so. And the antioxidants, as you certainly understand. Yeah, right, exactly. And antioxidants, as you certainly understand, antioxidants are so important for year-round use, really because it helps remove free radicals from our body, and free radicals are the cause of so many issues, from chronic illnesses, I mean, to so many different things. So having you know, taking something, a supplement like that that is so high in antioxidant, is really going to be beneficial for you.

Speaker 1: 12:54

I love it and you have, so you do like the syrup and you recommend to kids. Can kids also use it or is everybody pretty much?

Speaker 2: 13:01

Yep, so they, because, because it does have that raw honey aspect of it, it is a one and up right. So they, they, they did. They did recently reduce that from a two on the raw honey, from a two to a one year.

Speaker 1: 13:14

Yeah, I think about one now, about one can tolerate the raw, the honey. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:18

Yep, so that we have that on our bottle as well. So it's ages one and up and it can be taken daily, no problem at all. So yeah, we do. The two main products that we that we carry is are the elderberry syrups in several sizes. Then we also do sell 100 cold pressed elderberry juice in the bottle. So for those that want to incorporate just the elderberry juice in smoothies or whatever other beverages you want to put in or take a shot of it directly, we also offer that as well.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Elderberry juice by itself is very, very tart, okay, so it is not the sugar, almost like a chair, like a very tart, because just having it without anything in it okay, 100% acquired taste okay yeah, it definitely is.

Speaker 2: 14:01

It it's. It's not something that a lot of people are going to enjoy drinking straight, just because it the level of sugars in it naturally are very low, so that is generally why it's made into a syrups with honeys and different things added to it.

Speaker 1: 14:16

But you're more doing it for the overall benefits. When you're doing the juice, You're not doing it because, hey, this is like a fun. You're doing it because you're getting that quality. I mean, but you're getting a little higher concentration.

Speaker 2: 14:29

Yeah, the elderberry syrup. It's north of 80% pure juice, so it is very heavy on the juice side. But the kids, for example, you would be pulling teeth to get the kids to take the elderberry juice straight. The elderberry syrup, on the other hand, it is very, very, very good. Oh, that's great.

Speaker 1: 14:48

Well, I mean, I think depending upon the person and what they need. That sounds really good. So what? Additionally, was there any other health issues, or did someone in the family get pretty sick that made you kind of go in this route and have you guys, for the most part, stayed pretty steady Not that no one gets sick, but have you noticed your?

Speaker 1: 15:04

immune system is like. I mean, I definitely see, when people do the vitamin C it'll vary kind of regimens on. You know they, they take that components, they don't get a sick, but I don't know how is it for you and what you even just for a regular family or friends?

Speaker 2: 15:19

Yeah, we, you know we've been blessed as a family to not really have had had any real medical issues that kind of led us down any kind of journey of discovery to do elderberry. But certainly one of truly one of the most rewarding parts of owning an elderberry business are our customers coming. They write to us emails I almost wish I would have shared you had some on how fan I could share with you. But emails, phone calls, just when we meet people in person, if we're out and about like at, at like educational events and things like that, we're talking about it.

Speaker 2: 15:54

It's, it's amazing. I mean we've had people in tears coming to us saying like thank you so much, like for what you're doing, and it's like, wow, that is really impactful. You know, again, we did not start out with the idea that we're going to start an elderberry business. It just kind of happens. So it's like wow, wow, to go from you know, you know, kind of starting just from family, use all the way to have people like we're literally crying in front of us telling us their stories, it's like that's pretty powerful.

Speaker 1: 16:23

So it's been really, really cool, it's beautiful, like the impact that you have to so many families and that you're trying to. You know, I mean, granted, we're officially, unofficially I'll say it builds immune cells, but I mean herbs work back in the day, you know things do work and and that you know I'm I, I know the idea of work. So, and the fact that you're trying to make a good quality, you know, and the you know your family building something small to something great, it's amazing.

Speaker 2: 16:57

Yeah, yeah for sure. Now we're, we're definitely enjoying the ride and just we're at this point we're just trying to keep up with demand we have. We have planning sessions around here pretty much the entire fall. We're in. Okay, where else can we plug in some more elderberries and who else can we partner with to start up additional farms local to us that we can kind of, you know, buy the berries off of them and things like that.

Speaker 1: 17:13

So Are you guys in the grocery stores?

Speaker 2: 17:15

yet or not yet. So we, we sell the multi. We are not in like any major retail chains as of yet. We are certainly working you will be though. Yeah, we're. We're certainly working towards that and we have a couple of different people out there trying to make that happen, but right now we sell on our own website amazon walmartcom. Walmartcom does carry the product oh, that's great.

Speaker 1: 17:39

Oh, so that's big, walmart's huge. Yeah, yeah, we've been on amazon.

Speaker 2: 17:44

Those are pretty big we've been on what we've been on amazon now for a couple years walmartmartcom we just got on a couple of months back and then locally here to the, to the Northern Indiana area, we do have 12 stores that carry the product.

Speaker 1: 17:58

So okay, but I mean I'll have your information and your website for to reach out. What is your main website so they can go there.

Speaker 2: 18:06

Yeah, so the website is probably the best, and I only say that because it is going to be the most educational. Great, so we really really spent a lot of time talking about the benefits of elderberry, talking about, like, why we're growing it versus buying dried berries, and things like that. So if you want to understand more about what we've been talking about, the website is certainly the best, best channel for you, and that's just heartlandelderberryfarmscom.

Speaker 1: 18:33

Can you grow in the cold weather too, or is it only summers?

Speaker 2: 18:38

No. So yeah, elderberry grows. Like I said, it grows wild, I mean around the Midwest and almost every part of the country, from Florida to Texas. I didn't even know Minnesota. Yeah, elderberry grows wild and there are certainly different varieties. It would be hard pressed to take a Texas variety and transplant it in Minnesota maybe, and have it do well. But there are, regionally there are, different varieties of elderberry that do well. But yeah, we, we have no issues at all. They they send up new shoots. So the elderberry plant actually, unlike the european variety, which is more of a tree, it actually has a central tree trunk. The american variety, which is what we grow, it sends up canes every year. It's very, very similar to a raspberry or a blackberry in terms of how they're grown, where they just send up new shoots every year and then the berries grow off of those shoots.

Speaker 1: 19:33

I wonder you would know more than I on this. The weather permitting, like hot versus cold, do you think the colder ones have more of an efficacy or like are stronger, like a stronger potency, or does that not even matter? And is it depending upon where you are, is what is? Do you need to have edel or just edelberry? In general the potencies, if it's done well, I couldn't even answer that to be honest, I don't even know.

Speaker 2: 19:56

I don't know. That's an interesting question. I don't know. I know that there are differences in European varieties versus american varieties in terms of nutritional differences. I do know that, but as far as american varieties, I'm not. I really I'm not sure yeah, I mean probably not.

Speaker 1: 20:13

I mean I was just like oh, it was a cold weather, it's probably major, is it like even stronger on the bottom? Yeah, no idea, but the potency was amazing.

Speaker 2: 20:21

So yeah, we grow. We grow six varieties of elderberries here on the farm, and so we have some that will go as far as tennessee, so from indiana, so we'll go as far as tennessee, that do really well in tennessee, and then we also have some varieties that grow so you have edelberry throughout the country so now we have, we have they're all grown here on our farm but, there there are six varieties of elderberry that are grown in different locations.

Speaker 2: 20:46

Oh cool, we're kind of doing that almost as an experiment to see, like, which ones provide the highest yield and which ones perform the best here. But I don't know more than anything, more than the cold, it is the moisture elderberry is. They absolutely love moisture. You have to keep the ground really, really dry. So we get this question a lot.

Speaker 2: 21:09

It's like hey, I would like to plant a couple elderberry plants in my own yard, right, and we are an open book when it comes to that, and we would highly encourage any of your listeners or anyone that asks like, yeah, go for it, it's, it's not a hard plant to grow. So that would be a couple pieces of advice. If you want to start a couple plants in your own yard would be to one that grows in your region, right? So that would be the first thing. If you can, if you actually are lucky enough to be able to go out in the country, somewhere where you're at and and see an elderberry, bush, take some cuttings and go put it in your backyard, because, oh gosh, you know that's gonna work I don't have a green thumb, so I would not be that person.

Speaker 1: 21:56

But uh, I will yeah visit the expert, like the. Leave it to you guys. I'm uh, I'm one. Well, no, don't, don't ask me to harvest maybe a couple basil, like herb things. You might see me here and there no don't ask me to harvest anything Not going to work, maybe a couple basil-like herb things. You might see me here and there, but I don't know. That is not my forte, but that's why I asked you.

Speaker 2: 22:13

Well, I tell you, it really is fairly simple. So it really starts with a cutting. So a cutting is nothing more than just a part of the cane that is dormant. So it grew all summer and then, as winter approaches, it becomes dormant. So, whether you buy it commercially, online or wherever you're going to get it as a cutting, that's the way they come, and it could not be easier.

Speaker 2: 22:37

When the ground is just done, being frozen if you live in an environment where you get the winter so like in march is our time when the ground temperature finally gets above freezing you take this cutting and you push it in the ground. Done, it's like it's that simple, right? Because that's all it needs. It will develop before it leafs out, it'll develop the root system and then, when it has the roof system, the leaves will pop out as it warms up, and now you have an elderberry plant. The number one reason why elderberry cuttings fail in plantings is because they were either planted too late or they weren't getting enough water, like maybe there was a really dry spring or something like that and they weren't getting watered enough. So when they're in that stage, that cutting stage, and they're developing the root system, they cannot be overwatered. I mean, they could be underwater and they're just as happy. So it's like really, that's the key.

Speaker 1: 23:35

Maybe I can do it. No, I don't think it's in my cards, but I just you know I can't wait to try your product. Hey, maybe even you can even do indoor.

Speaker 2: 23:50

What's it called those indoor farmings too, you like, and depending upon the weathers, part of those get yourself and you'd be even bigger.

Speaker 1: 23:53

Yeah, right, exactly, grow year-round. Oh, yeah, exactly, this sounds awesome. I mean, I really appreciate you being on the show. Yeah, is there another? A tidbit of information, or, instantly, you'd like to leave the audience before you go?

Speaker 2: 24:02

yeah, I mean. So, like I said at the beginning of the podcast, like you guys don't know me from anybody, right? I'm just a co owner of an elderberry farm. So if you are taking an elderberry supplement, all you have to do is just look at the back of your own label. Right, it's that simple. Just look on the back of your own label. If the first ingredient is water, they're using a dried berry that's imported. The second thing is look at the rest of the ingredients, because so many of them it reads like this water, sugar, and then like, and then it's like you know, elderberry, and then some other stuff, and then there's a bunch of preservatives at the bottom, right? So don't just take the.

Speaker 2: 24:43

I think the term elderberry is used is now. It is now getting thrown out there. So don't just take that. I think the term elderberry is used is now. It is now getting thrown out there. So so much there. People are catching on to it. You can't walk down a Walgreens or a CBS aisle right now without seeing the term elderberry on so many products, Right? So I think they're just kind of tagging along with that. But there are levels of potency and there's levels of premiumness. I guess you should say Quality, quality.

Speaker 2: 25:10

Yeah, quality.

Speaker 1: 25:11

Quality versus quantity, and you know, junk versus like. I mean it's just, you get not even what we pay for.

Speaker 2: 25:17

And you, when you're good, you're going to get good when you just like and it's you know that's exactly If you're, if you're going to take an elderberry syrup, if that's something that you feel strongly about, just who wouldn't want the best out there, right? So just look at the look at what you're currently taking and compare it to somebody that uses a fresh pressed juice and and then make a decision from there.

Speaker 1: 25:42

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your time. Yeah, oh, you're welcome. I appreciate the conversation, yeah, so thank you guys for coming on the show listening, thank you for listening to Russell Carter and his heartland Edelberry farm and his little honey too Not little, but his honey farm too. And I just want you guys to, you know, understand the importance of it, especially as you get sick and you're trying to build up your immune system. It's a very important plant. So check out his website it's on the show notes and if you guys have any questions, reach out to him or reach out to me and we'll, you know, be glad to, you know, give you all the answers and the info.

Speaker 2: 26:17

Sounds great.

Speaker 1: 26:18

So thanks, guys, and make sure you make it a mindful way each and every day.