How to harvest Elderberry

[solidwoods]

I have allot of Elderberry bushes.
I sure would like some advice on how to harvest them.
I'd like to juice the berries.
I see the first hurdle is get them before the birds do,, so near harvest time keep a watch on them. They seem to ripen at just about the same time so thats not a big problem.
But how do I get the small berries off the berry head?
I've tried cutting the berry head off and gently pulling it through my hand but that just breaks the berries and allot of juice is lost.
Pick the individual berries would take days (I have some bushes that you need a step ladder to get the top berry heads).
Thanks
jim

[Vickie44]

I pull ( or cut )the entire head of flowers and take them in, then run them thru my hands squigling and pulling off the berries . When ripe they come off rather easy

[RubyRed]

Last year I cut the head of the flowers off and laid them on an old screen window. Shook them off, then gathered. It is labor intense still but not as bad. Maybe someone can come up with a better way.

[Bret F]

I pick the entire head, then use a wide tooth comb over a bucket to remove the berries from the stems.

[RubyRed]

Originally Posted by Bret F

I pick the entire head, then use a wide tooth comb over a bucket to remove the berries from the stems.

Good thinking! I will try that this year, sounds better than my method.

[bluefish]

My steamer juicer is the best thing ever for elderberries. I take off the bigger stems and don't worry about all those little ones attached directly to the berries. They go in the juicer, and when done get thrown into the compost pile. Soooooo much easier.

[ksfarmer]

A very easy trick is to put all the heads into a plastic bag and freeze them. Then you can rub the frozen heads on some screen (1/4 inch works) and the berries will come off without crushing them. You may have a few small pieces of stem to pick out, but this is the easiest way I have found.